Morning reading: Black futures declined in the night session, construction sites in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei gradually resume work

　　◎ This week, the average tax-included cost of steel billets at mainstream steel mills in Tangshan was 2,971 yuan/ton, up 8 yuan/ton week-on-week. Compared with the ex-factory price of 2,950 yuan/ton for universal billets on September 3, the average loss for steel mills was 21 yuan/ton.

　　◎ A survey on construction site activities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region shows that a total of 66 traders, secondary end-users, and downstream enterprises had work stoppages concentrated from late August to September 4. It is expected that enterprises will gradually resume work on the afternoon of September 3 and on September 4.

　　◎ According to sources, OPEC+ will consider further increasing oil production at its meeting this Sunday in an effort to regain market share. International oil prices fell on the 3rd.

　　◎ The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report shows that economic activity in most parts of the United States has "little or no change" in recent weeks. Price increases have appeared in all regions, and overall employment levels in all regions have seen little or no net change.

　　◎ The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that the number of job vacancies in the U.S. in July fell to 7.181 million from a revised 7.36 million in June, hitting a 10-month low and well below the expected 7.382 million.

　　◎ The Eurozone's final composite PMI for August slightly rose to 51, revised down 0.1 points from the preliminary figure, marking a 12-month high.

　　◎ International gold prices continue to hit record highs, with spot gold surpassing the $3,570 mark.

　　◎ On September 3, the national main port iron ore transaction volume was 864,000 tons, down 4% week-on-week; 237 mainstream traders' construction steel transactions were 82,200 tons, down 17% week-on-week.

　　◎ As of August 31, the sample steel mills held 1.267 million tons of steel billet orders, an increase of 270,000 tons or 27% compared to the previous survey. In terms of orders, domestic trade orders were 668,000 tons, up 128,000 tons week-on-week; direct export orders were 599,000 tons, up 142,000 tons week-on-week. Details>>

　　◎ According to Century Construction research, as of September 2, the fund arrival rate at sample construction sites was 59.4%, up 0.18 percentage points week-on-week. Among them, the fund arrival rate for housing construction projects was 51.39%, up 0.44 percentage points week-on-week. Details>>

　　◎ This week, the sample capacity utilization rate of 314 independent coal washing plants was 35.6%, down 0.94% week-on-week; daily clean coal production was 252,000 tons, down 7,000 tons week-on-week; clean coal inventory was 2.862 million tons, down 33,000 tons week-on-week.

　　◎ Jinye Steel Group carried out maintenance on a 450m³ blast furnace on August 31, with a tentative plan to resume production on September 10, affecting daily molten iron output by about 1,700 tons.

　　◎ In August, cold-rolled coil market inventory rapidly accumulated, with a single-week inventory increase rate of 1.66%, a 13-week high. The accumulation mainly stems from a significant increase in social inventory, reflecting active speculation but weak actual consumption, a structural contradiction. Details>>

　　◎ Baosteel Meishan Base's color-coated steel has been put into production since August 2025: designed annual capacity of 250,000 tons, product thickness 0.3-1.0mm, width 700-1270mm.

　　◎ As of August 30, nine major central construction enterprises announced new contract amounts for the first half of 2025, with a cumulative new contract total of approximately 7,957.727 billion yuan. Details>>

　　◎ As of August 31, 21 cities have introduced 28 real estate relaxation policies, among which Beijing and Shanghai have successively further relaxed housing purchase restrictions while optimizing provident fund policies. Details>>

　　◎ Data shows that in August, stimulated by new policies, Beijing's second-hand residential housing online signed contracts reached 13,300 units, an increase compared to July.

　　◎ Passenger Car Association: From August 1 to 31, the national retail sales of passenger cars reached 1.952 million units, a year-on-year increase of 3% and a 7% increase compared to the previous month. The cumulative retail sales since the beginning of this year reached 14.698 million units, a year-on-year increase of 9%.

　　◎ Shanghai Gold Exchange: Starting from the close of trading on September 5, the margin level for contracts Au(T+D), mAu(T+D), Au(T+N1), Au(T+N2), NYAuTN06, NYAuTN12, etc., will be adjusted from 13% to 14%, and the daily price fluctuation limit will be adjusted from 12% to 13% from the next trading day; the margin level for Ag(T+D) contracts will be adjusted from 16% to 17%, and the daily price fluctuation limit will be adjusted from 15% to 16% from the next trading day.