Weekly overview of the raw material market (June 26-July 2)

Last week (June 26 - July 2), the prices of various domestic raw materials in China were different. The price of iron ore fluctuated and fell, the price of coke was generally stable, and the market price of coking coal tended to stabilize. The prices of ordinary alloys remained stable but strong, and the prices of special alloys dropped overall. The price changes of the main varieties are as follows:
　　
The price of imported iron ore fluctuates
Last week, the imported iron ore market fluctuated, and external disk prices and port spot prices fell slightly from the previous weekend, mainly due to the limited production of northern steel mills and the gradual decline in iron ore demand. At the same time, after the profit of steel mills was compressed, the enthusiasm for iron ore procurement was not high, and the normal low inventory operation status was generally maintained. Due to the notification of production restriction requirements in various places, the output of crude steel in 2021 shall not be higher than that of last year, which means that the steel mills will have a greater degree of production restriction in the second half of the year. In the short term, the steel mills have not yet implemented specific measures, and the demand for iron ore remains Relatively high, but in the long run, if production restrictions are officially implemented, iron ore demand will drop significantly.

Metallurgical coke transaction price is stable
Last week, domestic metallurgical coke transaction prices were mainly stable. Coking enterprises and steel mills in parts of East China, North China, and Central South began to implement production restrictions and stewing furnaces from June 28. Transportation in some areas was restricted, and the northeast, northwest, and southwest regions were less affected. The metallurgical coke inventory of leading steel plants in East China has basically stabilized at about 410,000 tons, and the price increase of metallurgical coke has not been accepted; in North China due to the limited production of blast furnaces in steel plants, some representative steel plants have not yet accepted the price increase; monthly pricing representative enterprises in Central and South China7 Ex-factory prices were stable for the month, and no official letter has been issued yet; prices in the southwestern region remained stable in the first half of July; prices in the northeastern region remained stable. The price of coking coal remains high, and the cost of coking enterprises will continue to remain high in the short term, which will support the price of metallurgical coke. However, the steel market has poor transactions and the profitability of steel mills is weak. A few steel mills are not optimistic about the later market. Industry insiders expect that domestic metallurgical coke prices are mainly stable, and some steel mills that have not accepted the first round of price increases will accept metallurgical coke price increases.