[SMM Sheets & Plates Daily Review] Short-term consolidation in sheets & plates unlikely to reverse

Published: Jul 21, 2026 17:42

Save

During the day, the most-traded HRC contract fell first and then rose, closing at 3,297, down 0.27%. In the spot market, HRC spot prices were in the doldrums; cold-rolled spot prices fell by 10 yuan/mt. Supply side, this week's impact from maintenance on hot rolling was 185,100 mt, up 5,800 mt WoW. Next week's impact from maintenance on hot rolling is expected to be 192,100 mt, up 7,000 mt WoW from this week. HRC overall supply pressure moved sideways. Demand side, sheets & plates remain in the off-season, and periodic industry factors have also struggled to stimulate demand growth. Cost side, hot metal remains on a downward trajectory, and the first round of coke price cuts is being proposed. If raw materials lack disruptive factors, they will remain in the doldrums in the short term. Overall, today, the "17 New Regulations for Coordinating Coal Industry Development and Safety in Shanxi Province" is about to be released. Coking coal and coke were the first to stabilize and rebound, and sheets & plates followed with an uptick. But in reality, the fundamentals of sheets & plates still lack clear drivers, so HRC prices are expected to remain in consolidation in the short term.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or for more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

Common.Time.hoursAgo

[SMM Hot Rolled Arrivals] Arrival Ratio Moves Sideways This Period

Common.Time.hoursAgo

[SMM Steel] 7.21 SMM Global Steel Daily Report

[EU] EU HRC firms to 805-810 USD EXW; mills hold prices, order books into Sep-Oct EU HRC firmed this week, edging up to 805-810 USD/tonne EXW; actual trading was thin but domestic mills held prices hard, with Northern-European integrated mills booking some volume at 825-835 USD/tonne (delivered) and order books stretching into September-October. On exports, Turkish HRC-toEU offers held at 675-680 USD/tonne CFR (duty-paid).

Common.Time.hoursAgo

[SMM Hot-Rolled Coil Daily Trading Volume] Spot Trading Volume Sees Narrow Changes

On July 21, the total daily trading volume of hot-rolled coil among sample enterprises in SMM's four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, and Ningbo) was 12,000 mt, up 340 mt (+2.8%) day-over-day, down 7.98% YoY on a Gregorian calendar basis, and down 10.98% YoY on a lunar calendar basis.

Common.Time.hoursAgo