According to SMM's latest tracking, the total planned volume of cold-rolled coil commercial material for this month at 31 mainstream steel mills amounted to 4.2118 million mt, down 164,600 mt from the actual cold-rolled coil commercial material production of the previous month, a decrease of 3.8%.

According to market research, European stainless steel producers successfully lifted prices in March, driven by rising scrap costs, volatile energy prices, and limited import competition. Transaction prices for grade 304 cold-rolled coil reached an 18-month high as all European producers implemented month-on-month increases. Domestic mills are seeing improved order books, with lead times now extending into June and some delivery delays reported, particularly for ferritic materials. Producers are targeting further increases for July production, with some offers for grade 304 cold-rolled sheet already around $2,916/mt (EUR 2,700). Market participants note that mills aim for a target selling price of approximately $3,240/mt (EUR 3,000) in the coming months.

This week, ferrous metals retreated after a rapid rise. At the beginning of the week, the market said that Asia had shifted to coal-fired power generation due to a natural gas supply deficit, while Indonesia would increase coal production and impose export taxes. The rise in international coal prices was transmitted to China, and coking coal and coke led the gains in ferrous metals; mid-week, the Middle East situation remained volatile, and the U.S. and Iran held differing attitudes toward war, with ferrous metals consolidating at high levels; the pullback in the second half of the week was also mainly due to the weakening of the cost-side logic, as market rumors said long-term iron ore contract negotiations had been completed, expectations for tightening iron ore supply declined, and raw materials turned into the main driver of the pullback. In the spot market, speculative trading and end-user purchase sentiment improved in the first half of the week, while rigid demand remained dominant in the second half, and the spot-futures price spread widened somewhat......

In April 2026, Shougang Group adjusted the prices of some steel products based on the "Shougang Steel Products Sales Price Policy for March 2026" as follows: 1. The base price of HRC was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 2. The base price of pickled coils was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 3. The base price of cold-rolled coils was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 4. The base price of hot-dip galvanized sheet was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 5. The base price of aluminum-zinc coated and high-aluminum zinc-aluminum-magnesium coils was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 6. The base price of color-coated sheet was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 7. The base price of medium-aluminum zinc-aluminum-magnesium products was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 8. The base price of medium-thickness plates was raised by 200 yuan/mt. 9. Silicon steel: the base price of non-oriented silicon steel was raised by 200 yuan/mt, while the base price of grain-oriented silicon steel remained unchanged. All the above adjustments are tax-exclusive prices. The adjustments take effect from the date of issuance, and the right of interpretation belongs to the Marketing Center of Shougang Co., Ltd. This is hereby announced.

According to SMM’s latest tracking, the total planned volume of cold-rolled commercial products for this month across 31 mainstream cold-rolled coil steel mills was 4.073 million mt, up 257,500 mt from last month’s actual production of cold-rolled commercial products, an increase of 6.7%.

In January 2026, the European Union and India reached a historic Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with the elimination of steel tariffs of up to 22% becoming a major market focus. However, clearing the policy fog of "bilateral exemptions" and analyzing actual export and carbon emission data reveals that the steel industry faces a highly asymmetric trade reshaping. This seemingly fair reduction is actually Europe trading a "capped" ticket for India's "uncapped" massive incremental market.