About Steel: This Monday to Tuesday (January 22-23), the domestic steel prices slightly increased. SteelHome's benchmark steel price index was 4474 yuan/ton, up by 4 yuan/ton from last Friday. Among them, the price index of long steel was 4071 yuan/ton, up by 9 yuan/ton; the price index of flat steel was 4267 yuan/ton, up by 5 yuan/ton; The price index of rebar was 4005 yuan/ton, up by 5 yuan/ton; The price index of medium and heavy plates was 4134 yuan/ton, up by 5 yuan/ton; The price index of hot-rolled coil was 4150 yuan/ton, up by 8 yuan/ton; The price index of cold-rolled coil was 4833 yuan/ton, a decrease of 4 yuan/ton, and the price index of structural steel was 4828 yuan/ton, down by 4 yuan/ton.

In terms of stainless steel, the price index of stainless steel was 12792 yuan/ton, up by 8 yuan/ton. Among them, the price index of 300 series stainless steel was 16828 yuan/ton, up by 8 yuan/ton; The price index of 200 series stainless steel was 9648 yuan/ton, remained stable; and the price index of 400 series stainless steel was 8143 yuan, remained stable.

At present, the domestic steel market is in a state of low production, low inventory, and seasonal demand off-season.

About raw materials: This Monday to Tuesday, the domestic prices of metallurgical coke and coking coal were mainly stable, while the prices of PCI declined in some markets. On January 23, SteelHome's import price index of 62% iron ore was $132.39 /ton, up by $1.03 dollars/ton from last Friday. The price of 61.5% PB fine in Qingdao Port increased by 10 yuan to 1015 yuan/ton. Currently, steel mills are cautious in purchasing iron ore, mainly on actual demand basis. SteelHome’s price index of ordinary carbon billet was 3656 yuan/ton, up by 12 yuan/ton from last Friday. SteelHome’s price index of HMS was 3053 yuan/ton, up by 4 yuan/ton from last Friday.

About Ferrous Futures: Futures price from Monday to Tuesday: Rebar and HRC both increased slightly by 0.4%, stainless steel and iron ore both increased by nearly 1%, coking coal slightly increased by 0.22%, coke increased by 1.47%, ferrosilicon slightly decreased by 0.78%, and silicon manganese decreased by 1.31%.

About Industry: In 2023, the total import and export trade volume of China's construction machinery reached 51.063 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8.57%. Among them, the import amount was 2.511 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 8.03%; The export value was 48.552 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 9.57%.

Table 1: Change of steel prices in main domestic markets (yuan/ton)

Source: SteelHome