July 24, 2026 News: Ferrochrome and Chrome Ore Markets Fluctuate Slightly...

[SMM Analysis] Futures Consolidate on a Strong Note, but Off-Season Demand Weakness and Concentrated Arrivals Lead to a Slight SS Inventory Buildup SMM, July 23: This week, stainless steel (SS) social inventory ended its earlier destocking trend, stopping its fall and rebounding overall with a slight buildup, as off-season inventory pressure re-emerged. Total inventory in the two core markets of Wuxi and Foshan edged up, rising from 921,300 mt on July 9, 2026, to 929,900 mt on July 23, up 0.93% WoW, shifting from a mild destocking phase to a period of accumulation. During the week, SS futures extended their previous consolidation on a strong note, helping to repair market trading sentiment to some extent. This drove a recovery in spot market inquiry activity early in the week, and periodic transactions saw a short-term rebound. However, support from off-season demand was insufficient, and the boost in sentiment from futures only generated a pulse-driven market. After the release of these periodic transactions, downstream procurement pace quickly slowed, and spot trades returned to a mediocre state, with a lack of sustained purchasing power from end-users. On the supply circulation front, the key factor behind this week's inventory buildup was the concentrated arrival and warehouse entry of shipments previously delayed by typhoon and rainstorm weather. This, combined with steel mills maintaining a normal distribution pace, led to a marked increase in the volume of spot cargo released, temporarily raising pressure on spot supply. Against a backdrop of weak off-season end-user purchases and slowing cargo consumption, the growth from concentrated arrivals could not be effectively absorbed by the market, ultimately driving the slight buildup in social inventory. Overall, the underlying bearish factors for inventory growth were weak off-season rigid demand from end-users and a lack of sustained transactions. The key drivers for this week's buildup were the concentrated arrivals after the typhoon, combined with normal distribution from mills and an increase in spot supply releases. This week's inventory...

Platinum prices fell sharply today. Escalating US-Iran and Russia-Ukraine conflicts triggered a continued surge in oil prices, with international crude settling significantly higher, fueling market expectations for a September rate hike. Precious metals futures remained under pressure from interest rate headwinds, and market sentiment was repeatedly pulled back and forth. In early trading, the most-traded PT2610 platinum futures contract on the GFEX settled at 391.65 yuan/g, down 4.94%, while the inverted spread between the best ask price for Pt9995 on the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the GFEX PT2610 contract widened to around 6 yuan/g. Spot side, mainstream quotations for platinum were from parity to a premium of 1 yuan/g against the PT2608 contract. As the futures market plunged during the day, the premium in mainstream quotations rose compared to the previous trading day. Warrant quotations from suppliers’ warehouses were mainly at a small premium against the GFEX August contract. Spot transactions tended to be near parity against the August contract. Some traders followed opportunities from the price spread between futures contracts to inquire about taking delivery of warrants, while downstream buyers negotiated prices and purchased based on their orders. Overall, platinum spot market consumption was normal today.

According to SMM on July 23, SS futures consolidated and strengthened. Driven by the rise of SHFE nickel, SS futures rallied simultaneously, with the most-traded SS contract closing at 14,855 yuan/mt. Spot market, the continuous rise in futures boosted market sentiment, but downstream end-users showed limited acceptance of high-priced cargoes, causing spot price gains to lag behind the futures; inquiries for low-priced resources in the market were moderate, and transactions concentrated in lower-tier materials. The most-traded SS futures contract. At 10:15 a.m., SS2609 was quoted at 14,845 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In the spot market, the average price of Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coil rose 50 yuan/mt; cold-rolled mill edge 304/2B coil prices were flat in Wuxi and flat in Foshan; cold-rolled 316L/2B coil prices in Wuxi were flat; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil prices in Wuxi were flat; cold-rolled 430/2B coil prices in both Wuxi and Foshan were flat. This week, macro side, US CPI data pulled back, inflation expectations cooled, and market risk appetite recovered slightly. Coupled with Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources confirming that only a moderate, small amount of additional nickel ore production quotas would be added for the year, limited growth space and a continued tight raw material supply landscape provided solid bottom support for the spot market, driving SHFE nickel and SS futures to stop falling and rebound. Spot and inventory side, steel mills' efforts to hold prices firm, along with a dual improvement in transactions and arrivals, caused spot prices to strengthen steadily, and inventories achieved a significant destocking. This week, mainstream steel mills showed firm determination to hold prices firm, effectively stabilizing market trading sentiment. The market remained in the traditional consumption off-season, with overall weak end-user just-in-time demand. Downstream users showed insufficient acceptance of high-priced cargoes after the price increases, and cautious wait-and-see sentiment persisted, limiting the strength of spot price gains, which significantly lagged the futures. However, driven by the futures rebound, the market's "rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn" mentality warmed up, releasing phased restocking demand from end-users, and the market trading atmosphere improved notably from the previously sluggish pattern. Meanwhile, typhoon weather this week disrupted logistics and transportation, leading to insufficient spot arrivals and a slowed pace of cargo replenishment in the market. The recovery in transactions combined with reduced arrivals effectively accelerated spot cargo destocking, pushing the social inventory of stainless steel to pull back significantly this week. The off-season inventory buildup pressure that had been weighing on the market was phasedly alleviated, and spot fundamentals improved marginally. Cost and profit side, this week the price trends of finished steel and raw materials diverged, with steel mill smelting profits achieving MoM recovery and the profitability environment continuing to improve. During the week, steel mills maintained pressure on raw material prices, with high-grade NPI procurement prices remaining in the doldrums, and the raw material cost center shifted steadily downward. Spot side, supported by mills' price-holding stance and transaction recovery, finished steel prices drifted higher. The sustained expansion of the price spread between finished steel and raw materials directly drove a notable increase in stainless steel smelting profit margins, further enhancing the industry's overall profit resilience, and continuously easing profit pressure on the production side. Overall, this week the stainless steel market showed a pattern of firm spots, falling inventory, and profit recovery. The tight nickel resource outlook underpinned the industry's bottom, mills' price-holding stance established the spot price center, phased off-season restocking and reduced logistics drove inventory destocking, and raw material weakness further expanded steel mill profit margins. However, the core issues of sluggish off-season just-in-time demand and insufficient acceptance of high prices have not fundamentally improved, and spot cargoes lacked sustained significant upward momentum.

Southeast Asia's aluminum scrap market rebounded this week, with key grades in Malaysia and Thailand rising, while ADC12 prices softened amid weak downstream demand. Despite lower LME aluminum prices, tight scrap supply kept offers firm. Sentiment improved slightly, but buying remained need-based. Attention also shifted to US Section 232 developments and their potential impact on trade flows and regional supply.

[SMM Nickel Flash] As of July 23, the SMM high-grade NPI market sentiment factor was 2.03, flat MoM; the high-grade NPI upstream sentiment factor was 2.09, flat MoM; and the high-grade NPI downstream sentiment factor was 1.96, flat MoM. Today, the stalemate in the spot market for high-grade NPI continued, with upstream and downstream price expectations remaining misaligned, and spot transactions remained sluggish.

Iron ore futures trended strongly today. The DCE most-traded contract I2609 closed at 747.5 yuan/mt, up 0.74%. Spot prices at Qingdao Port rose about 5-8 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Trader activity was moderate, with few inquiries from steel mills. Currently, spot transactions remained weak. Steel mills' demand for iron ore has slowed down recently. According to SMM, inventories at the ten major ports totaled 105.63 million mt, down only 640,000 mt WoW. Based on the current inventory structure, destocking of iron ore concentrate and lump ore was relatively significant, pellet inventories were at low levels, while fine ore saw slight inventory buildup. Demand side, the market remained in off-season conditions. Although the environmental protection-driven production restriction policy was relatively mild, steel mills still faced a certain probability of proactive blast furnace maintenance. Next week, expectations for the Politburo meeting may heat up, which could boost market sentiment in the short term. However, overall, short-term iron ore prices are expected to continue moving sideways in a narrow range. [SMM Steel]

[SMM Tungsten Analysis: Tug-of-war Between Mine-side Price Holding and End-user Off-season, Short-term Tungsten Market Likely to Move Sideways] SMM July 23 News: This week, the tungsten market center rebounded slightly. At the beginning of the week, upstream raw material transactions turned active, and the market transaction center edged up slightly. Mine-side suppliers’ sentiment of holding back from selling intensified, and prices held firm. However, there was ample supply of low and medium-grade ore in the market, and the price spread between high-grade and low-grade ore transaction prices widened. At the start of the week, a tungsten enterprise in Jiangxi published its long-term contract prices, which were generally close to the spot order transaction prices of that day. The price spread between long-term contracts and spot orders narrowed. As the weekend approached, market sentiment diverged,

[SMM Magnesium Weekly Review: Holding Up Well Then Consolidating at Highs, Supply Strong and Demand Weak Pattern Unchanged] At the beginning of the week, boosted by restocking for rigid demand and news, magnesium ingot quotations edged up slightly. However, high inventory suppressed downstream purchases, and upward momentum was insufficient. FOB quotations at Tianjin port followed the rise. Summer break outside China combined with high ocean freight rates led to sluggish foreign trade transactions. Dolomite prices remained stable, with ample supply. Magnesium powder and magnesium alloys edged up slightly following magnesium ingot and then stabilized. Demand from die-casting was weak in the off-season, and the pattern of strong supply and weak demand remained unchanged. In the short term, magnesium prices will continue to move sideways.

SMM, July 23 – Today, the market suggested that the online price for secondary refined lead was raised by 75-100 yuan/mt. Some upstream suppliers quoted 15,800 yuan/mt, remaining firm. Spot orders followed market trends, with spot cargoes traded at an ex-factory discount of 30-50 yuan/mt. Downstream consumption remained persistently weak, with resistance to high-priced cargoes, low purchase willingness, and no restocking plans for now. The market mostly adopted a wait-and-see approach, with some enterprises planning to postpone purchases. Market sentiment diverged between buying and selling, with price increases lacking demand support, and spot deals remaining sluggish. Today, the SMM average price of secondary refined lead was reported at 15,700 yuan/mt, a premium of 25 yuan/mt over the SMM #1 lead average price. Supplier shipment sentiment was 0.81, and today's secondary refined lead purchase sentiment was 1.41 (historical data can be accessed by logging into the database).