[SMM Sheets & Plates Daily Review] HRC Futures and Spot Move Sideways; Weak Fundamentals Persist

Published: Aug 27, 2026 17:40

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HRC futures moved sideways today, with the most-traded HC2610 contract closing at 3,342 yuan/mt, edging up 0.09% on the day. In the spot market, most quotes remained stable and intraday trading was sluggish. SMM released its weekly balance data today, showing weekly production pulled back slightly and apparent demand continued to pull back. Inventory side, SMM’s national social HRC inventory across 86 warehouses (large sample) stood at 4.6308 million mt this week, up 132,700 mt (2.95%) MoM and up 29.86% YoY. By region, except for destocking in South China, all other regions saw inventory buildup, mainly due to earlier typhoon-driven sharp increases in arrivals combined with weak downstream demand, which further widened the buildup pace. News side, there were reports of supply deficit in Shanxi coal, and after the second round of coke price increases materialized, expectations for further increases persisted. Hence, with strong support from the cost side, HRC prices will stay high.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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