[China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry: China’s Ship Product Export Value Reached $55.08 Billion in 2025] On March 11, according to the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, China’s ship product export value reached $55.08 billion in 2025, up 26.7% YoY. Among this, the combined export value of the three mainstream vessel types—bulk carriers, oil tankers, and container ships—was $30.46 billion, accounting for 55.3% of the total export value.

Nickel prices came under pressure and pulled back this week. Early in the week, rumors of tighter approvals for RKAB on the Indonesian ore side spurred the futures market to rally briefly, but it later retreated as US Fed officials repeatedly delivered hawkish remarks, the US dollar index held above 106, and global risk assets came under broad pressure. With tensions in the Middle East rising, macro risk-off sentiment strengthened, and nickel prices on SHFE and LME corrected notably. The most-traded SHFE nickel contract closed at 137,140 yuan/mt on Friday, down 1.6% on the week. The LME nickel 3M contract fluctuated between $17,000-17,900/mt this week, with a weekly decline of 2%. In the spot market, the weekly average price of SMM #1 refined nickel was 140,600 yuan/mt, down 2,150 yuan/mt WoW. The weekly average Jinchuan nickel premium was 6,900 yuan/mt, down 1,100 yuan/mt versus the week before Chinese New Year. Premiums for mainstream domestic brands of electrodeposited nickel ranged from -400-400 yuan/mt. After nickel prices fell this week, downstream restocking driven by rigid demand became more evident, and overall spot nickel plate shipments increased WoW. On the macro front, US ADP employment in February increased by 63,000, the largest rise since November 2025 and above the market expectation of 50,000, weakening expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts. Meanwhile, US January PCE and core PCE inflation data rose above expectations, and the US dollar index rebounded, creating short-term pressure on base metal prices. Geopolitical tensions continued to escalate this week, with Iran announcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, posing a potential threat to the sulfur supply chain. Domestically, the Two Sessions emphasized medium and long-term benefits from national defense spending, improving expectations for alloy demand in sectors such as defense industry and shipbuilding, which supported nickel alloy consumption. Inventory: Shanghai Bonded Zone inventory was about 2,200 mt this week, flat WoW. Domestic social inventory was about 85,000 mt, with an inventory buildup of about 8,000 mt WoW. Nickel prices are currently in a stalemate, with firmer cost support but unchanged near-term pressure. Tighter Indonesian RKAB quotas and tight nickel ore supply provided strong support for nickel prices, but levels above 140,000 yuan/mt faced strong resistance from high inventory and weak demand. The core expected trading range for the most-traded SHFE nickel contract next week is 130,000-140,000 yuan/mt.

National crude steel demand decreased from 1.05 billion mt in 2020 to 910 million mt in 2025, with the steel consumption in manufacturing (machinery, automobiles, home appliances, and ships) increasing from 242 million mt to 280 million mt, a rise of 15.7%, and its share rising from 23% to 31%, becoming a key force in boosting the upgrade of crude steel demand structure. In contrast, construction demand fell from 631 million mt to 440 million mt, with its share dropping from 60% to 49%.

[SMM Analysis] Holiday Stability in Overseas Prices, Divergent Trading Performance HRC prices in Thailand and Malaysia mostly held steady. As the holidays largely coincided with those in the domestic market and shipments were affected by the Chinese New Year, overall transaction activity remained relatively weak. The galvanizing market in Thailand performed moderately, but due to low-priced resources capturing market share, downstream shipments were somewhat impacted, leaving limited room for price increases. Influenced by factors such as Ramadan, HRC trading in Indonesia also trended toward mediocrity, while overseas export offers remained stable amid a wait-and-see stance. However, supported by government policies promoting increased use of domestically produced steel in the local shipbuilding industry, medium and long-term demand for sheets & plates in Indonesia is expected to remain relatively optimistic.The Black Sea market recently exhibited overall calm, with FOB offers for HRC exports pulling back slightly compared to pre-holiday levels. Although some routine transactions were concluded, overall market activity remained sluggish. Despite tight spot supply in the domestic Indian HRC market, it remains range-bound due to weak overall procurement demand, lacking momentum for price increases. Turkish HRC export offers have seen slight increases, following the price hike trend among European producers. European and US markets face strong policy and cost disruptions: although the US Supreme Court overturned some previously imposed tariffs by the president, the subsequent announcement of new global tariffs of up to 15% has sharply heightened market risk aversion. In European markets such as Italy, steel mills are leading ex-factory price increases against a backdrop of tight spot supply. Copyright and Intellectual Property Statement: This report is independently created or compiled by SMM Information & Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "SMM"), and SMM legally enjoys complete copyright and related intellectual property rights. The copyright, trademark rights, domain name rights, commercial data information property rights, and other related intellectual property rights of all content contained in this report (including but not limited to information, articles, data, charts, pictures, audio, video, logos, advertisements, trademarks, trade names, domain names, layout designs, etc.) are owned or held by SMM or its related right holders. The above rights are strictly protected by relevant laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China, such as the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, as well as applicable international treaties. Without prior written authorization from SMM, no institution or individual may: 1. Use all or part of this report in any form (including but not limited to reprinting, modifying, selling, transferring, displaying, translating, compiling, disseminating); 2. Disclose the content of this report to any third party; 3. License or authorize any third party to use the content of this report; 4. For any unauthorized use, SMM will legally pursue the legal responsibilities of the infringer, demanding that they bear legal responsibilities including but not limited to contractual breach liability, returning unjust enrichment, and compensating for direct and indirect economic losses. Data Source Statement: (Except for publicly available information, other data in this report are derived from publicly available information (including but not limited to industry news, seminars, exhibitions, corporate financial reports, brokerage reports, data from the National Bureau of Statistics, customs import and export data, various data published by major associations and institutions, etc.), market exchanges, and comprehensive analysis and reasonable inferences made by the research team based on SMM's internal database models. This information is for reference only and does not constitute decision-making advice. SMM reserves the final interpretation right of the terms in this statement and the right to adjust and modify the content of the statement according to actual circumstances.

On January 26, 2026, the Poyang County Government signed a cooperation agreement with China Coal Xinji (Jiangxi) New Energy and China Shipbuilding Science & Technology, officially advancing an integrated wind power-to-hydrogen-to-green methanol project with a total investment of 4.5 billion yuan, injecting momentum into Poyang's green transformation and Jiangxi's new energy development. Representatives from the government and enterprises attended the signing ceremony. Wang Zonghua, County Mayor of Poyang, stated that the county would provide the optimal business environment to ensure project advancement, promote early implementation and results, and jointly build a demonstration project for integrated new energy development. According to the agreement, leveraging Poyang's abundant wind resources, the project will construct a 500,000 kW wind power project, supporting facilities with an annual production capacity of 16,500 mt of green hydrogen and 150,000 mt of green methanol , with a total investment of 4.5 billion yuan. It adopts an all-green electricity technical route of "wind power-electricity-hydrogen-methanol," establishing a closed-loop industry chain and addressing the local consumption of wind power. The three parties established a "government + central state-owned enterprise + publicly listed firm" collaboration model: Poyang County provides policy and resource support; China Coal Xinji leads project investment and operation; China Shipbuilding Science & Technology offers core technical support and expands the application market for green methanol in shipping. Upon completion, the project is expected to yield significant benefits, with an annual power generation of approximately 1.2 billion kWh, carbon reduction exceeding 900,000 mt, creation of numerous jobs during construction and operation, and annual tax contributions exceeding 200 million yuan. It will drive Poyang's transformation into a strong county in the new energy industry, establish a central China base for new energy fuel manufacturing, and provide a demonstration for the "dual carbon" goals. The project will be implemented in two phases, with the first phase expected to commence operation by the end of 2027 and the second phase to be completed in 2029. After implementation, it will synergize with China Coal Xinji's projects in multiple locations, enhancing the national network of green methanol production sites and promoting its commercial application.

On December 26, 2025, China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Nanjing Shipyard successfully launched the second 25,900 DWT stainless steel chemical tanker (Vessel 25900-4) for SC Shipping. This milestone follows the delivery of the first vessel of the same class, "SC EMERALD," on December 20. It demonstrates the shipyard's rapid operational recovery and efficiency, achieving "restructuring, production, and delivery in the same year" after completing its reorganization from the former Nanjing Dongze Shipbuilding in November.