[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Consolidate on a Strong Note and Move Higher; Stainless Steel Spot Offers Hold Steady, Transaction Recovery Hard to Sustain According to SMM on August 18, SS futures maintained a strong consolidation pattern, extending the previous day's stronger tone, with prices moving higher. At the close, the most-traded SS futures contract settled at 14,275 yuan/mt. In the spot market, SS futures rebounded and strengthened yesterday afternoon; with guidance prices at mainstream steel mills holding steady, inquiry and transaction activity in the spot market clearly recovered. Today, momentum for further gains was insufficient, transactions weakened somewhat, and trader offers remained firm. The most-traded SS futures contract. At 10:15 a.m., SS2610 traded at 14,235 yuan/mt, up 15 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Wuxi 304/2B spot premiums were in the 435-635 yuan/mt range. In the spot market, the average price for Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coil held steady; for cold-rolled raw-edge 304/2B coil, the Wuxi average rose 25 yuan/mt and the Foshan average rose 25 yuan/mt; Wuxi cold-rolled 316L/2B coil prices fell 100 yuan/mt; for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil, Wuxi quotes were flat; cold-rolled 430/2B coil prices in Wuxi and Foshan were unchanged. This week, stainless steel futures were repeatedly disrupted by macro sentiment and overall remained on a weak pullback trend. During the week, news on Indonesian RKAB nickel mining approvals repeatedly disturbed industry expectations. Combined with the US Fed's hawkish policy stance and the unresolved US-Iran geopolitical conflict, macro uncertainty in the market stayed high. Multiple bearish factors combined to drag SS futures through a sustained pullback during the week, with overall bearish sentiment dominating the market...

[8.19 Morning Meeting Minutes] The National Bureau of Statistics: In July, the value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size grew 4.5% YoY in real terms; sales prices of new commercial residential buildings in first-tier cities turned flat MoM after a 0.1% increase in the previous month. The most-traded SHFE nickel 2609 contract moved sideways in the morning session, ending at 128,410 yuan/mt, up 0.19%. Driven by factors including the mild cooling of the US July PPI and further easing of interest rate hike expectations, nonferrous metals broadly rose, and nickel prices rebounded from last week's lows. While Indonesia’s nickel ore RKAB quota is expected to be loose, sulfur prices remain elevated above $1,000/mt, providing ongoing cost support. In the short term, the most-traded SHFE nickel contract is expected to trade in the range of 125,000-130,000 yuan/mt.

[SMM Analysis] Indonesian HRC Low-Price Pressure Persists; Weak Steel Demand Continues Across Southeast Asia China–Indonesia Billet Spread Holds Narrow; Slab Spread Turns Positive In terms of the spread model, the China–Indonesia billet FOB spread has held within a narrow band, averaging -3 USD/t for the month (vs. a year-to-date average of -10). Some traders report that Indonesian billet offers remain relatively low, though the inversion has narrowed from the year-to-date average of -15. On the slab side, a notable recovery is underway: the monthly average spread has turned positive to +3 USD/t, a marked improvement from the half-year average of -30. Data source: SMM Southeast Asian Demand Yet to Rebound; Price Remains the "First Principle" of Order-Taking China's HRC and galvanized exports to Southeast Asia have remained weak recently, with no sign of a demand recovery at the end-user level. Downstream procurement continues to follow a "bearish wait-and-see, buy-as-needed, restock-slowly" rhythm, and order intake hinges heavily on price competitiveness. By regional competitive landscape: Indonesian material continues to move at low prices on the back of integrated industrial-park cost advantages and logistics convenience, while Vietnamese domestic mills have passively followed with covert price cuts to secure orders. By comparison, Chinese HRC offers remain relatively high, leaving exporters caught between volume and price, with no distinct edge in order-taking. By product category: Hot-rolled-substrate galvanized (hot-rolled-based HDG) coil has seen further declines in order intake under continued pressure from low-priced buy-side bids. On the demand side, although pre-stocking by some air-conditioner manufacturers has brought a marginal improvement, the drag from the construction sector remains significant, and a meaningful rebound is unlikely in the near term. On market sentiment: marginal changes are emerging — some HRC sellers have begun signaling intent to hold prices firm. With the month-end settlement window approaching, coil prices are expected to stabilize by end-August. Two key signals warrant close attention ahead: (1) the direction of Hoa Phat's monthly price adjustment for next month, and (2) whether Indonesian mills follow suit in supporting prices. Together, these will determine the pace at which the regional price center repairs in September. 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.

H1 2026, performance of listed companies in the solid-state battery supply chain showed stark divergence. Traditional lithium battery material suppliers reaped huge profit growth (Tinci Materials +>900%) due to price rebounds, while overseas start-ups remained deep in the red (QuantumScape net loss $199M).

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] Nonferrous Sector Boosted; Stainless Steel Futures Stopped Falling and Began to Rise According to SMM news on August 17, SS futures stopped falling and rebounded. Although Friday’s night session remained weak, Monday’s open was lifted by a broad rally in nonferrous metals, and SS successfully reversed its decline and began to rise. By the close, the most-traded SS futures contract settled at 14,275 yuan/mt. Spot market, although SS futures had already staged a rebound, the weak trading pattern in the morning stainless steel spot market did not improve, and traders further lowered their quotes. Only as futures gradually rebounded did spot transactions show some recovery. The most-traded SS futures contract. At 10:15 a.m., SS2610 was at 14,220 yuan/mt, down 25 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, spot premiums for 304/2B were in the 400-650 yuan/mt range. In the spot market, the average price of Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils held steady; for cold-rolled mill-edge 304/2B coils, the Wuxi average fell 125 yuan/mt and the Foshan average fell 125 yuan/mt; prices of Wuxi cold-rolled 316L/2B coils were unchanged; for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils, Wuxi quotes were unchanged; cold-rolled 430/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan were unchanged. This week, stainless steel futures were continuously disturbed by macro sentiment and overall maintained a weak pullback trend. During the week, news on Indonesia’s RKAB nickel ore approval repeatedly disrupted industry expectations. Coupled with hawkish US Fed policy remarks and the unresolved US-Iran geopolitical conflict, macro uncertainty in the market stayed high, and multiple bearish factors resonated to drag SS futures lower throughout the week…

As of July 31, the SHFE zinc front-month contract settled at RMB 24,800/mt, up RMB 190/mt month-on-month, a gain of 0.77%. Zinc prices traded at elevated levels throughout July, dipping to a monthly low of RMB 24,070/mt in early July before peaking at RMB 25,035/mt toward month-end, with prices holding broadly firm at the high end of the range.