Recently, the Hubei Provincial Energy Bureau released the public announcement of the sixth batch of first (set of) major technological equipment in the energy sector. The announcement showed that four major hydrogen energy technological equipment projects were selected, covering key segments of the hydrogen energy sector and highlighting the progress of hydrogen energy equipment R&D and application in the province. The four selected equipment projects are: a kilonormal-cubic-meter-class alkaline-PEM integrated electrolysis hydrogen production system, a marine methanol fuel supply system, a multi-chamber physical vapor deposition system for hydrogen fuel cell bipolar plates, and a large-scale off-grid flexible hydrogen production system, all of which feature distinctive innovation and application value. The kilonormal-cubic-meter-class alkaline-PEM integrated electrolysis hydrogen production system was jointly developed by five enterprises, with China Power Construction (Zaoyang) New Energy Development Co., Ltd. as the user entity, based on the China Power Construction Zaoyang New Energy Hydrogen and Oxygen Production Project. The equipment pioneered wide-load flexible regulation technology, enabling 10%–120% wide-load adjustment and cold start-up in ≤30 minutes, and is compatible with renewable energy, which is of great significance for promoting high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry. The marine methanol fuel supply system was independently developed by Jingmen Hongtu Special Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd., with its core encompassing multiple key technologies. Its methanol skid adopts an integrated skid-mounted design to achieve "plug-and-play" functionality and features a proprietary three-step pressure stabilization method that can handle fluctuations in methanol consumption, ensuring stable operation under complex working conditions. The multi-chamber physical vapor deposition system for hydrogen fuel cell bipolar plates was developed by Wuhan Research Institute of Materials Protection, China Academy of Machinery Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. It achieved a leap from batch processing to 15-chamber fully automated continuous production, resolved core deficiencies of similar equipment in China, achieved 100% domestic component supply, and established a benchmark across the entire chain. The large-scale off-grid flexible hydrogen production system has Qianjiang Qingbei Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd. as the user entity and was jointly developed by four organizations, based on the National Energy Administration hydrogen energy pilot project — the Hubei Qingbei Hydrogen Energy Qianjiang Green Hydrogen Project (green hydrogen capacity of 20,000 normal cubic meters per hour). Its solution is innovative and meets the application requirements. The selection of four hydrogen energy equipment projects is an affirmation of the province's hydrogen energy equipment R&D capabilities. It will drive breakthroughs in key hydrogen energy technologies, accelerate the industrialisation and application of equipment, and inject momentum into the province's energy structure transformation.

[Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel Prices to Remain Stable Next Week, With Continued Divergence Between High-End and Low-End Prices] This week, the cold-rolled grain-oriented silicon steel market remained stable overall, with mediocre transaction performance and a continued divergence between high-grade and low-grade products. Market feedback indicated that ferrous metals futures continued to weaken this week, weighing somewhat on market sentiment, but spot grain-oriented silicon steel prices as a whole remained firm and stable. In April, ordering costs at top-tier enterprises remained steady and were not raised, while traders maintained a relatively rational ordering stance, with no obvious wait-and-see or cautious sentiment.

The 2026 Global Sodium-Ion Battery Industry Ecosystem Conference hosted by HiNa Battery was held in Jiangxia District, Wuhan. At the conference, HiNa Battery launched sodium-ion battery products covering application scenarios such as starter batteries, energy storage, and electric heavy-duty trucks, and simultaneously disclosed extreme-cold test data for sodium-ion battery heavy-duty trucks.

Recently, the 2025 Electrochemical Energy Storage Black Start and Frequency Regulation Key Technology Research and Application Project of Huadian Group Wuchang Branch was officially and successfully accepted for grid connection. The project was jointly advanced by Huadian Group, Shanghai Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Group, and REPT Battero. As a key pilot project under the national 14th Five-Year Plan, the project took the lead in achieving engineering application, marking that REPT Battero's 324Ah battery cell has 1P C-rate performance and has passed testing under relevant national standards, enabling it to participate in future grid-side frequency regulation projects. The project accepted for grid connection this time is located in Wuhan, Hubei, with a total capacity of 9MW/9.554MWh, consisting of two 4.5MW/4.5MWh energy storage units. It is intended to build electrochemical energy storage black start capability for two sets of 9E-class combined-cycle generating units and, when the ESS is idle, to participate in secondary frequency regulation ancillary services for the power grid through the combined thermal power and energy storage frequency regulation mode.

[Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel Prices Will Remain in a Consolidation Trend Next Week, with Limited Fluctuations] Market feedback indicated that the current core downstream demand mainly came from transformer manufacturing enterprises. Affected by the industry's traditional off-season, enterprises had weak purchase willingness and mostly adopted strategies of consuming their own inventory and making small-volume replenishments on demand. Acceptance of current prices remained stable, but there was a lack of momentum for large-scale procurement, resulting in relatively weak actual transaction performance for grain-oriented silicon steel. Due to inventory pressure on some specification resources, traders had limited room for slight discounts.

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.

[Market Participants Became More Rational in Sentiment, and Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel Prices May Fluctuate Rangebound Next Week] In terms of transactions, the procurement pace of end-use industries such as downstream transformers and power equipment slowed down, and purchase willingness remained cautious, with procurement mainly consisting of small-volume, as-needed restocking orders, while large-volume purchasing activity was scarce, resulting in relatively low actual market trading activity. In addition, resources from steel mills’ earlier directed orders arrived successively, and traders’ circulating inventory accumulated steadily. Some merchants offered slight price concessions to accelerate turnover and boost shipments, but the overall room for concessions remained limited and failed to effectively lift transactions.

Based on current production conditions and in line with prevailing market demand, mainstream steel mills in Fujian (such as Sansteel MinGuang, Fujian Sanbao, Fujian Dadonghai, Wuhang, and Fujian Hongfeng) successively adjusted the price spread between size groups for construction steel starting March 17.

Based on current production conditions and in light of current market demand, starting from March 17, mainstream steel mills in Fujian (such as Sansteel Minguang, Fujian Sanbao, Fujian Dadonghai, Wuhang, and Fujian Hongfeng) successively adjusted the price spreads for construction steel specification components.

[Market Sentiment Remained Primarily Cautious, Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel Prices Might Continue to Hold Steady Next Week] This week, grain-oriented silicon steel quotations were temporarily stable, with only limited recovery in transactions. HRC futures strengthened and then fluctuated this week, but Baowu's base prices for grain-oriented silicon steel in April remained stable, overall market sentiment stayed cautious, and procurement demand was unlikely to be released.