[SMM Sheets & Plates Daily Review] Supply-Demand Imbalance Yet to Accumulate, Short-Term Fluctuations Expected

Published: Jun 4, 2026 17:28

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HRC futures closed at 3,377 today, down 0.44% for the day. Spot side, cold-rolled and hot-rolled spot prices fell 10-20 yuan/mt, with overall transactions being mediocre. Today SMM released partial weekly HRC balance data. This week, SMM's surveyed social inventory of HRC across 86 warehouses nationwide was 4.3519 million mt, down 114,500 mt WoW, or -2.56% WoW. By region, except for South China and Northeast China markets, other markets continued destocking. Demand side, this week's apparent demand was up 13,800 mt WoW, and demand had not yet shown a significant decline due to the off-season. From a fundamental perspective, supply-demand imbalance had not yet accumulated this week.
Looking ahead, market rumors suggest coke still has expectations of further increases, which provides some support to the steel cost side. However, considering current signs of weakening market demand and weak market sentiment, prices are unlikely to rise significantly going forward, with short-term movements expected to be range-bound.

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