【SMM Steel】Atlas Tube and Maruichi USA to form steel tubing joint venture

China Export Market : [Steel Billet] Today, export offers for square billet edged down by 1 USD/tonne to 470-473 USD/tonne. According to market feedback, port departure inspections for steel products involved relatively little steel billet, so the impact on its exports was relatively small. However, the current economic conditions in markets outside China were not very favorable, the international situation was unstable, demand was relatively average, and steel billet export deals showed mediocre performance. [Rebar] Today, rebar export FOB prices edged down by 1 USD/tonne. Market inquiries showed mediocre performance, and no actual deals were concluded yet. According to feedback from some traders, inspections at northern ports have tightened recently, but the impact on rebar exports appeared relatively small at present. In addition, some market participants said that China’s export prices currently had no obvious advantage, and wait-and-see sentiment was strong.

On the DCE, iron ore futures trended weaker today, with the most-traded contract I2609 closing at 764 yuan/mt, down 0.46% from the previous trading day. Port spot prices fell 3–5 yuan from the previous day.

[SMM Hot Rolled Coil Daily Transactions] On June 11, the total daily trading volume of hot-rolled coils among sample enterprises in SMM's four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) totaled 13,220 mt, down 1,030 mt day-on-day, or -7.9%, Gregorian YoY +0.92%, and lunar YoY -6.31%.