Futures and Spot Prices Moved Sideways Intraday, Overall Transactions Were Underwhelming

HRC futures closed at 3,283 today, down 0.21% for the day. In the spot market, cold and hot rolled prices remained largely stable. According to SMM data, steel mill profits have quickly shrunk recently. At the same time, pressure to take orders increased significantly during the off-season, leading some mills to plan new maintenance and production cuts. The combined impact has resulted in a MoM decline in the daily average HRC production schedule for July. Demand side, Q2 remains a domestic off-season, with muted downstream purchases and market transactions. Inventory pressure is expected to keep rising, and the supply-demand imbalance will gradually accumulate. HRC’s own supply-demand pattern offers limited support for prices.

Overall, the supply-demand imbalance for HRC is gradually accumulating in July. Cost side, the difficulty for further short-term price increases intensifies. Considering that macro expectations and changes in external imbalances can provide limited stimulus to steel prices, short-term HRC prices are expected to continue consolidating near the bottom.