📌 Steel Market Update

Advisory Bazaar Info Services

🔹 Iron ore futures declined amid rising Chinese inventories and completion of restocking by steel mills.

🔹 On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the May iron ore contract fell 0.63% to 788 yuan ($113.37) per metric ton.

🔹 On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark March iron ore slipped 0.42% to $103.35 per ton.

🔹 Chinese iron ore inventories at major ports rose 1.16% week-on-week, indicating weakening demand.

🔹 Around 80% of surveyed steel mills have completed restocking, while inventories of finished steel products continue to increase.

🔹 In the Hebei region, blast furnace output may be curtailed due to environmental restrictions.

🔹 End-user demand and market transactions are expected to soften ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

🔹 The direction of steel prices will depend on the pace of post-holiday activity and the absorption of inventories.

🔹 January factory activity showed mixed signals:

• Official survey pointed to contraction

• Private survey indicated expansion driven by stronger export orders

🔹 Prices of other steelmaking raw materials, including coking coal and coke, also moved lower.

🔹 Steel benchmarks such as rebar and hot-rolled coil on the Shanghai Futures Exchange remained under pressure.