Iron ore prices are expected to remain volatile in the short term [SMM Brief Review]

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Pulled Back in the Doldrums; Stainless Steel Spot Trading Sluggish, Wait-and-See Prevails SMM news on March 5: SS futures showed a fluctuating trend in the doldrums. Although SS moved somewhat stronger in the night session at one point, it pulled back amid fluctuations after the morning open, and in the afternoon it fell further along with an overall dip in some metal futures, finally closing at 14,115 yuan/mt. In the spot market, boosted by the upward move in SS futures before noon, stainless steel spot quotes were raised in tandem; however, actual transactions failed to follow through, and downstream players mostly stayed on the sidelines. In the afternoon, as futures pulled back, spot quotes were adjusted downward again. Although downstream end-use demand is gradually recovering, expectations for a high production schedule in March have weakened market confidence in further price increases, with most participants focusing on proactive shipments. The most-traded SS futures contract fluctuated downward. At 10:30 a.m., SS2604 was quoted at 14,275 yuan/mt, up 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, spot premiums for 304/2B were in the 295-445 yuan/mt range. In the spot market, Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils held steady on average; for cold-rolled mill-edge 304/2B coils, the average price in Wuxi rose 25 yuan/mt, while the average price in Foshan fell 50 yuan/mt; in Wuxi, cold-rolled 316L/2B coils rose 200; for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils, Wuxi was quoted up 100 yuan/mt; cold-rolled 430/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan held steady on average. The stainless steel market is gradually recovering, and SS futures strengthened and moved higher. Boosted by warming expectations for the traditional peak consumption season of “Golden March and Silver April” and the continued fermentation of news on Indonesian nickel ore, market participants see…

[SMM Chromium Daily Review: Quotes Continued to Rise, Strong Willingness to Hold Prices Firm] News on March 5, 2026: Today, the ex-factory price of high-carbon ferrochrome in Inner Mongolia rose by 50 yuan/mt (50% metal content) MoM from the previous trading day...

This week, HRC social inventory was 3.5487 million mt, up 148,300 mt WoW (+4.36%), up 22.54% YoY, and up 25.40% YoY on a lunar-calendar basis. This week, HRC mill inventory was 1.1431 million mt, down 93,100 mt WoW (-7.53%), down 3.25% YoY, and down 4.17% YoY on a lunar-calendar basis. This week, total HRC inventory was 4.6918 million mt, up 55,200 mt WoW (+1.19%), up 15.07% YoY, and up 16.63% YoY on a lunar-calendar basis.