As of 9:30 am on August 18, all varieties in the black futures market rose, including rebar, hot-rolled coil, iron ore, coking coal, coke, ferrosilicon and silicomanganese.
Construction steel production enterprise survey express – construction steel mills resume production slightly increased, this week’s output may rebound slightly
According to a survey, the scale of maintenance and resumption of production at construction steel mills decreased slightly last week compared to the previous week, and output may rebound slightly this week. Specifically, steel mills in 10 provinces underwent maintenance and resumption of production lines. Of these, five lines were under maintenance, four fewer than last week, and six lines resumed production, two more than last week. Based on the average daily output of rolling mills, the maintenance affected 96,200 tons of production, and this week’s production is expected to be affected by maintenance by 87,400 tons.
Mysteel Morning Reading: The central bank report sends an important signal that the US will expand the scope of steel and aluminum tariffs
The People’s Bank of China released its China Monetary Policy Implementation Report for the second quarter of 2025. The report proposes implementing a moderately loose monetary policy in detail over the next phase. Promoting a reasonable price recovery will be a key consideration in navigating monetary policy, ensuring prices remain at a reasonable level. Financial policy will focus on the supply side, creating effective demand through high-quality supply. US President Trump reportedly stated after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15th local time that there are no plans to impose additional tariffs on Chinese purchases of Russian oil. On August 15th local time, the Trump administration announced the expansion of its 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, adding hundreds of derivative products to the tariff list.
In early August, the social inventory of five major steel varieties in 21 cities increased by 2.3% month-on-month.
In early August, social inventories of the five major steel varieties in 21 cities reached 8.03 million tons, a month-on-month increase of 180,000 tons, or 2.3%, and a year-on-year increase of 1.44 million tons, or 21.9%, while a year-on-year decrease of 2.18 million tons, or 21.4%. Regionally, in early August, social steel inventories in all seven regions increased, with the exception of the Northeast, which saw a slight month-on-month decrease. The Southwest saw the largest increase and rise.
