[SMM Steel Market Morning Brief] US April PPI Up 6% YoY, Hitting a New High Since December 2022 and Exceeding Market Expectations

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Macro

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[US April PPI Up 6% YoY, Hitting a New High since December 2022, Beating Market Expectations]

The US April PPI rose 6% YoY, hitting a new high since December 2022, versus expectations of 4.9%, with the prior reading revised from 4.00% to 4.3%; April PPI rose 1.4% MoM, hitting a new high since March 2022, versus expectations of 0.5%, with the prior reading revised from 0.50% to 0.7%.

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[US President Trump Arrived in Beijing]

On the evening of May 13, US President Trump arrived in Beijing by special aircraft.

At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump of the United States of America paid a state visit to China from May 13 to 15.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two heads of state since their meeting in Busan last October, and the first visit to China by a US president in nine years. President Xi Jinping held in-depth exchanges of views with President Trump on major issues concerning China-US relations as well as world peace and development.

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[CCPIT: Looking Forward to Further Deepening Exchanges and Cooperation between Chinese and US Business Communities to Make New Contributions to the Stable, Healthy, and Sustainable Development of China-US Relations]

A CCPIT spokesperson said that CCPIT welcomes US business community representatives to visit China. There is vast space and enormous potential for practical cooperation between China and the US. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the Chinese and US business communities are expected to further deepen exchanges and cooperation, making new contributions to the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations. Meanwhile, more US enterprises are also welcome to come to Beijing to participate in the 4th China International Supply Chain Expo, which is about to open on June 22, to jointly safeguard the stability and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains.

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Industry and Downstream

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[Local Government Bond Issuance Exceeded 4 Trillion Yuan within the Year]

A review of Wind data showed that as of May 13, cumulative local government bond issuance across regions had exceeded the 4 trillion yuan mark, reaching 4,035.7 billion yuan, up 8% compared to the same period last year of 3,752 billion yuan in 2025. "Local government bond issuance has exceeded 4 trillion yuan so far this year, with a notably front-loaded pace and early deployment. This reflects the clear orientation of a more proactive fiscal policy of 'issuing early and deploying quickly,'" said Song Xiangqing, Vice President of the China Commercial Economics Association.

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[SMM Blast Furnace Operating Rate] Delayed Production Resumptions at Blast Furnaces Led to Continued Decline in Hot Metal Production

This week, according to the latest SMM survey, a total of 1 blast furnace entered maintenance, mainly concentrated in north-east China. As blast furnaces previously under maintenance delayed production resumptions, no blast furnaces resumed production this week, and overall hot metal production continued its downward trend.

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Other Hot Topics

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⭕[Commercial Vehicle Sales Reached 400,000 Units in April]Since the beginning of this year, China's economy got off to a strong start, with major indicators performing better than expectations. China's automotive industry maintained a steady pace of transformation and upgrading, foreign trade demonstrated strong resilience, and overall competitiveness continued to improve. In April, auto production and sales edged down YoY, with cumulative production and sales declines narrowing further. Among them, domestic demand still awaited improvement and stimulus; exports continued to grow rapidly, providing stable support for the overall market. Specifically, the passenger vehicle market declined, the commercial vehicle market maintained growth, and NEVs operated steadily. On May 11, CAAM held its production and sales press conference. Data showed that in April, auto production and sales reached 2.575 million units and 2.526 million units respectively, down 11.7% and 12.9% MoM, and down 1.7% and 2.5% YoY. From January to April 2026, cumulative auto production and sales reached 9.614 million units and 9.574 million units respectively, down 5.5% and 4.8% YoY.

⭕[National Railway Fixed Asset Investment Reached 200.8 Billion Yuan in the First 4 Months]According to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway"), from January to April this year, railway construction advanced with high quality and efficiency. National railway fixed asset investment reached 200.8 billion yuan, up 3.2% YoY, effectively leveraging its radiating and driving role and injecting new momentum into regional economic and social development.

A relevant official from the Construction Department of China Railway stated that since the beginning of this year, China Railway has extensively applied new technologies and processes, driving positive progress in the construction of a number of key projects. In April, the joint debugging and testing of the Xi'an-Shiyan high-speed railway and the Shandong section of the Xiong'an-Shangqiu high-speed railway progressed smoothly, with the maximum test speed reaching 385 km/h, laying a solid foundation for the commencement of operations; the Xi'an-Ankang high-speed railway and the Wenling-Yuhuan section of the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou high-speed railway successively commenced static acceptance testing; all tunnels of the Chongqing-Wanzhou high-speed railway were fully connected; and a number of key control projects, including the newly built Chongqing Science City Station on the Chengdu-Chongqing midline high-speed railway and the Jingu Haihe Tunnel on the Tianjin-Weifang high-speed railway, achieved phased results.

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