[Building Materials] Yesterday, prices remained generally stable with some minor adjustments in certain areas. The rebar futures contract 2605 continued its range-bound trading, pulling back after touching the 3140 resistance level. In northern regions, low temperatures hampered construction demand, hindering shipments and reducing traders' willingness to maintain prices, leading to market transactions primarily focused on lower-priced resources. In the south, demand was relatively stable, steel mills' willingness to maintain prices strengthened, and restocking activity increased, resulting in a slight rise in spot prices. The divergence between the north and south markets continues, and building material prices are expected to trend slightly stronger today, with some areas seeing minor increases.
[Plate Steel] Yesterday, prices were stable with some localized fluctuations. A slight rebound in futures prices led to a tentative increase in spot prices, but follow-through trading was insufficient. Prices in some northern markets corrected, and cold-rolled coil generally performed weakly, remaining in a range-bound consolidation phase overall. Currently, plate steel inventory pressure remains, with end-user procurement maintaining a need-to-buy pace. New orders from the manufacturing sector are limited, and the impact of adjustments to steel export policies has created a strong wait-and-see atmosphere in the market. Medium plates underperformed hot-rolled coil, while the southern market was generally stronger than the northern market. Supported by macroeconomic policy expectations, the market rebounded significantly. It is expected that plate prices will remain generally stable today, with some localized slight increases.
【Strip Steel】 Yesterday, prices remained generally stable, with a few experiencing narrow declines. Macroeconomic policy expectations, coupled with rising futures prices, pushed up finished steel prices in some markets, but strip steel transactions were generally weak after the price increase. Pipe inventory is high, steel mills' production enthusiasm is weak, downstream actual demand is limited, acceptance of high-priced resources is low, pipe mills' willingness to replenish inventory has weakened, and speculative demand in the market is mostly cautious and wait-and-see. Considering that macroeconomic expectations still provide support to the market, strip steel prices are expected to remain stable with some localized upward movements today.
【Pipe Steel】 Yesterday, prices were generally stable, with some experiencing weak adjustments. As winter construction further slows down, mainstream welded pipe mills mostly maintained stable prices, with a few pipe mills lowering prices by 20 yuan. Currently, pipe mill inventory remains high, market transactions are sluggish, and demand recovery momentum is insufficient, with both supply and demand showing a weak trend. Traders are operating cautiously, with few large-scale replenishment activities, and most adopting a deal-by-deal approach for shipments. Supported by the costs of billet and strip steel, pipe prices are expected to remain stable in the mainstream today, with slight increases in some local areas.
