[July China Construction Machinery Export Value 42.251 Billion Yuan]

According to reports, the Hyundai Motor Union (Metal Workers' Union Hyundai Motor Branch) launched a full strike on the 21st due to a deadlock in this year's wage and labor negotiations. This is the first time the union has taken such action since 2016. As a result, all production lines at the Ulsan, Jeonju, and Asan plants were shut down that day. Because both day-shift and night-shift workers went on strike for 8 hours each, the production lines were actually suspended for 16 hours that day. Currently, the labor and management sides are locked in a tug-of-war over three demands: raising bonuses, reinstating employees fired for union activities, and extending the retirement age. The negotiations remain deadlocked, with differences yet to be resolved.

HRC prices strengthened this week with recovering trading sentiment. In terms of supply, maintenance on rolling lines saw relatively small changes, and overall HRC production increased slightly. On the demand side, HRC apparent demand continued to deteriorate, with the off-season impact still evident. High temperatures and rainy weather remained the main bearish factors, and demand improvement awaits verification in early September. On inventory, SMM data showed social inventory of HRC across 86 national warehouses (large sample) stood at 4.4982 million mt this week, up 54,900 mt WoW, up 1.24% WoW. By region, markets in east China and north China saw inventory buildup, while markets in south China, central China and northeast China saw slight destocking. Looking ahead, the first round of coke price hikes is expected to be implemented next week, iron ore prices may consolidate with small fluctuations, and HRC cost support is expected to strengthen. However, the supply-demand imbalance is still accumulating, weighing on HRC prices with insufficient upward momentum. In summary, the most-traded HRC contract is expected to consolidate in the 3260-3360 range next week.

[India] India’s steel market remained stable on Friday, with buyers adopting a cautious approach. Billet export indications held at 470USD/tonne FOB India, although no deal was confirmed at this level. Indian HRC offers to Vietnam remained at 520–525USD/tonne CFR, against buyer indications of 505–510USD/tonne CFR. Domestically, HRC stood at 609USD/tonne (58,100INR/tonne) EXW Mumbai, while billet remained at 453USD/tonne (43,200INR/tonne) delivered Mandi Gobindgarh, 449USD/tonne (42,800INR/tonne) EXW Mumbai and 415USD/tonne (39,600INR/tonne) EXW Raipur.