Central Eco-Inspections Launched: Teams to Assess Ministries, Caves, and Pollution in Six Regions

Shandong mines and beneficiation plants quoted 64-grade alkaline powder, dry basis, pre-tax, acceptance, ex-mine at 759 yuan, down 12 yuan WoW. Steel mills lowered prices in tandem. After the holiday, steel mill purchases returned to a normal pace, some miners saw shipments slow down, and some continued to fulfill long-term contract orders with no inventory pressure. Overall, the market was relatively stable; mines and beneficiation plants were affected by lower imported ore prices.

Malaysia's steel unit price index rose 0.1-5.1% y-o-y in most areas of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak from September 2025 to September 2026, DOSM said. Perak led with 5.1%, then Johor at 4.8% and Tawau at 3.8%. Cement prices gained 0.6-7.4% y-o-y, led by Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan at 7.4%. M-o-m, steel indices fell 0.2-1.6% in September 2026, with Johor down 1.6% and Sibu and Miri down 1.3%. Average prices for mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high tensile deformed bars dropped 2.4% to 817 USD/tonne (3,431.90 ringgit/tonne) from 830 USD/tonne (3,484.20 ringgit/tonne) in August. The building cost index with steel bars eased 0.1-1.3% in Peninsular Malaysia, 0.1-0.7% in Sabah and 0.1-0.5% in Sarawak. Cement averaged 25.80 ringgit per bag, flat.

[Vietnam] Vietnam's HRC import market remained subdued as buyers increasingly prioritised domestic supply. Chinese Q195 HRC offers declined by USD 2/tonne week on week to USD 500/tonne CFR, while Q235 offers stood at USD 510/tonne CFR. Indonesian SS400/SAE1006 HRC offers rose to USD 540–542/tonne CFR, while Indian SAE1006 offers increased to USD 555–560/tonne CFR. No import transactions were reported last week, as buyers had previously replenished inventories and favoured domestic material. Market participants estimated that a major domestic steelmaker sold approximately 600,000–650,000 tonnes of HRC during its latest sales round.