[CPCA: National Passenger Vehicle Retail Sales Reached 1.406 Million Units in April]

[SMM Steel] In April 2026, China exported 9.498 million mt of steel, an increase of 363,000 mt MoM, up 4.0% MoM; cumulative steel exports from January to April totaled 34.214 million mt, down 9.7% YoY. In April, China imported 465,000 mt of steel, a decrease of 47,000 mt MoM, down 9.2% MoM; cumulative steel imports from January to April totaled 1.804 million mt, down 13.4% YoY.

According to CISA data, in late April 2026, key steel enterprises produced a total of 20.36 million mt of crude steel, with an average daily production of 2.036 million mt, down 3.6% MoM; pig iron production was 18.5 million mt, with an average daily production of 1.85 million mt, down 2.5% MoM; steel products production was 21.55 million mt, with an average daily production of 2.155 million mt, up 7.0% MoM. Based on this, national daily crude steel production is estimated at 2.73 million mt, down 2.3% MoM; daily pig iron production at 2.33 million mt, down 2.4% MoM; and daily steel products production at 4.28 million mt, up 3.0% MoM.

[EU] European HRC buyers largely paused new bookings while waiting for clearer details on the EU’s upcoming import quota allocation system. Transactions in Northern Europe were reported at €670-690/t ex-works for July-August delivery, while Italian domestic offers remained around €700/t delivered. Downstream demand stayed weak amid high inventories across ports and supply chains. Import offers remained limited and mostly uncompetitive as Asian mills resumed operations with higher prices, narrowing the gap between domestic EU prices and import costs after including CBAM expenses.