The final March S&P Global services PMI released by the US came in at 49.8, a reading that was not only below the preliminary 51.1, but also marked the first contraction since January 2023. During this period, growth in new orders fell to its lowest point in nearly two years, while export trade conditions deteriorated further compared with February. Meanwhile, the final composite PMI was confirmed at 50.3, significantly below the preliminary 51.4 and the lowest level since September 2023.

This week, ferrous metals were in the doldrums. The main logic during the week remained weakening cost support. On Tuesday, Iran proposed charging transit fees for the Strait of Hormuz, while Trump made conciliatory remarks, saying that “even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, he would still be willing to end military action against Iran.” Market expectations for tighter crude oil supply weakened, and declines in the energy sector dragged down the coal sector, weakening the cost-side logic. During the week, inventories of the five major steel products continued to decline, but apparent demand remained at a low level for the same period in previous years, providing limited fundamental-driven momentum to futures. In the spot market, purchasing interest was average, mainly focused on restocking at low prices. Spot prices were relatively firm, and the spot-futures price spread widened somewhat......

[SMM Daily Brief Review of Coking Coal and Coke] In terms of supply, coking coal costs for coke producers declined somewhat, and with the first round of coke price increases now fully implemented, losses at coke producers narrowed significantly, boosting production enthusiasm. Coke supply increased steadily, while downstream demand remained moderate, shipments were smooth, and producers' own inventory continued to decline. Demand side, steel mill blast furnaces gradually resumed production, and daily average hot metal production continued to increase, driving up rigid demand for coke. However, steel mills have recently seen good coke arrivals, with most mills' coke inventory at mid-range levels and overall procurement sentiment remaining average. In summary, coke market fundamentals have shifted toward looser supply and demand, and coupled with weaker recent cost support for coke, the coke market may remain temporarily stable in the short term, with further price increases facing greater difficulty.

[SMM Nickel Flash] Hanrui Cobalt Planned to Invest an Additional $108 million in Its Indonesian High-Grade Nickel Matte Project, Raising Total Investment to $351 million Hanrui Cobalt announced on March 27 that its board of directors had approved a proposal to increase the total investment in the fundraising project and adjust its internal investment structure. According to the announcement, the company planned to use $107.8905 million (approximately 745 million yuan) in its own and self-raised funds to increase the total investment in the "20,000 mt/year Nickel Metal Content Oxygen-Enriched Continuous Converting High-Grade Nickel Matte Project" from $243.2069 million to $351.0974 million (approximately 2.423 billion yuan), representing an increase of 44.36%.

[Consumption Performance Varied Across Market Segments, and Die-Casting Zinc Alloy Operating Rates Are Expected to Decline Next Week] From the order performance perspective, terminal hardware enterprises had already completed stockpiling at low price levels earlier, and demand was suppressed after prices rose recently. Overall, orders across various die-casting zinc alloy segments showed mediocre performance. Among them, zipper hardware was in the peak consumption season, and relatively solid demand was broadly in line with enterprise expectations......

[SMM Copper Anode Flash News] Enterprises operated normally in March. In March 2026, the operating rate of SMM China's copper anode enterprises was 50.42%, up 12.32 percentage points MoM. By raw material, the operating rate of ore-derived copper anode enterprises was 71.51%; the operating rate of copper anode producers using scrap rose 18.06 percentage points MoM to 40.58%. (Only refers to the non-self-use copper anode portion)