As supply and demand for construction steel were not fully matched across different markets, regional supply-demand mismatches created price differentiation, which in turn drove the cross-regional circulation of steel resources. When the regional price spread gradient was appropriate, regions with surplus construction steel capacity and production often shipped excess resources out, thereby rebalancing construction steel resources across regions.

Gold is doing the opposite of what it should. The metal is falling for a reason most investors did not see coming. Wall Street's biggest banks have not changed their outlook. Here is why that matters.

Middle East tensions have sparked a massive steel trade "mismatch." Iran's blocked exports created a 2.3-million-ton billet vacuum in Southeast Asia, while the Red Sea crisis stalled China's flat steel shipments to the Gulf. Consequently, China and India are rapidly absorbing SEA's diverted billet orders. SMM projects that blocked flat steel returning to China's domestic market, combined with surging overseas billet demand, will accelerate the narrowing of the domestic HRC-rebar spread.

This week, total rebar inventory stood at 8.3525 million mt, up 57,800 mt WoW, or 0.7% (previously +3.46%). Compared with the same period of the lunar calendar last year, it increased by 281,200 mt, or 3.48% (previously +4.58%).

Gold is a widely known safe-haven asset and tends to benefit during geopolitical turmoil, but the metal has remained largely range-bound amid the latest Middle East conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.

During the survey period (March 10–March 16), the capacity utilization rate of rebar and wire rod rolling lines in the Central China region increased to varying degrees.

Fu Jianguo, deputy general manager of Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. of China Baowu Iron and Steel Group, said at the promotion conference that Baowu’s design capacity of EAFs built and under construction in China is 9.422 million mt.

[SMM EAF Operating Rate: EAFs Suffer Widespread Shutdowns and Production Cuts; When Will Production Resume?] According to SMM's survey, as of August 20th, the operating rate of 50 electric arc furnace (EAF) steel plants nationwide, which mainly produce construction materials, was 16.68%, a decrease of 1.34 percentage points from the previous month; the capacity utilization rate was 19.11%, a decrease of 0.92 percentage points from the previous month; and the average daily output of construction materials was 42,600 tonnes, a decrease of 2,000 tonnes from the previous month.

Luo Tiejun, vice president of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said that in 2022, China's steel production using EAFs accounted for 9.7% of the total crude steel output, which is far lower than the global average of 30%. In the process of carbon peak and carbon neutralisation, the development of steelmaking using EAFs is an inevitable trend to achieve green and low-carbon development.

The operating rate of BFs was down 0.15 percentage points WoW at 91.38% as of October 18, SMM survey showed.