As The Holiday Approaches, Steel Prices Are Rising Again

Based on previous experience, futures positions typically see both long and short funds reduce holdings for risk aversion as the holiday approaches. However, today an abnormal situation occurred, with a significant increase in long positions, showing optimism for the market after the May Day holiday. On the industrial side, steel mill production recovery is nearly complete. Last week, the daily average pig iron output from blast furnaces was 2.3932 million tons, a decrease of 0.018 million tons week-on-week. This week, the production of the five major steel products also declined, with total output down 83,900 tons week-on-week to 8.5483 million tons. Steel supply is marginally contracting, boosting market sentiment expectations, and pushing the market strongly higher.