South Korea's K-Steel bill is impacting our country's steel exports, and the three major coal import ports will shut down.

　　◎ If South Korea's K-steel bill is implemented, the products most likely to be hit hardest will be medium-to-thick plates and hot-rolled coils. Based on an average tariff rate of 30%, China's medium-to-thick plates would completely lose their price advantage in South Korea, with annual export volumes expected to drop below 800,000 tons. More details ➕

　　◎ According to the bilateral agreement between China and Mongolia, the three major import ports—Ganqimodu, Ceke, and Mandula—will be closed from October 1 to 7, 2025, resuming normal customs clearance on October 8. Statistics from Mysteel indicate that the seven-day closure of these three key ports during the 2025 Double Festival holiday period is expected to impact Mongolian coal imports by approximately 1.8756 million tons.

　　◎ Sha Steel's Changzhou, Jiangdu, and Wuxi bases have raised their scrap steel prices by 20 yuan/ton starting from September 24.

　　◎ Lecong Steel World Park, a key steel trading hub in Guangdong, announced that it will implement closed-loop management from 9:00 PM on September 23 to 12:00 AM on September 24. Details>>

　　◎ Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, met with U.S. Congressman Smith and his delegation, who are visiting China, in Beijing. Both sides candidly and thoroughly exchanged views on further enhancing communication and exchanges, as well as promoting the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations.

　　◎ Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Lecheng stated that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, efforts will be made to implement initiatives aimed at fostering emerging industries and cultivating new drivers of growth, while accelerating the development of several key emerging pillar industries. Additionally, a mechanism for increasing investment in future industries will be established, opening up new frontiers such as humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces, the metaverse, and quantum information technologies, and creating a batch of pioneering pilot zones dedicated to these cutting-edge sectors.

　　◎ According to data released by the National Energy Administration, total electricity consumption across society reached 1.0154 trillion kilowatt-hours in August, representing a year-on-year increase of 5%. For two consecutive months—July and August—society's electricity usage exceeded 1 trillion kilowatt-hours.

　　◎ Domestic refined oil prices remain unchanged for the sixth time this year. The window for the next round of refined oil price adjustments opened at 24:00 on September 23. According to monitoring data from the National Development and Reform Commission's Price Monitoring Center, the adjustment amount during this pricing cycle was less than 50 yuan per ton, so gasoline and diesel prices will stay unchanged this time.

　　◎ Affected by Typhoon "Bilis", heavy to torrential rains, with localized extremely heavy rainfall, are expected from September 23 to 26 in eastern Fujian, central and southern Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan. The Ministry of Water Resources activated a Level IV emergency response for flood control in Fujian, Guangxi, and Hainan at 19:00 on September 23, while upgrading Guangdong's flood control emergency response from Level IV to Level III.

　　◎ The OECD released its Interim Economic Outlook report on the 23rd, projecting global economic growth of 3.2% in 2025—up 0.3 percentage points from the forecast made in June this year. In 2026, global economic growth is expected to slow to 2.9%, unchanged from the June projection.

　　◎ On September 23, national major port iron ore transactions totaled 1.791 million tons, an increase of 65.5% from the previous week; meanwhile, transactions of construction steel by 237 leading traders reached 92,000 tons, down 19.8% week-on-week.

　　◎ On September 23, the total port inventory of imported iron ore at China's 47 major ports reached 145.1337 million tons, an increase of 1.2349 million tons compared to last Monday. Meanwhile, the total inventory of imported iron ore at 45 key ports stood at 139.3097 million tons, up 1.2656 million tons from the previous week.

　　◎ From September 15 to 21, the total iron ore inventory at seven major ports in Australia and Brazil amounted to 12.17 million tons, a decrease of 821,000 tons compared to the previous week, reflecting a slight downward trend in stock levels.

　　◎ On September 23, the average cost for 76 independent electric arc furnace construction steel plants was 3,337 yuan/ton, unchanged from the previous day. Meanwhile, the average profit remained at a loss of 123 yuan/ton, with profits from off-peak electricity even lower, slipping by 25 yuan/ton.

　　◎ According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's total exports of steel billets from January to August 2025 reached 9.2362 million tons, representing a year-on-year increase of 293.24%. Meanwhile, the country's total imports of steel billets amounted to 584,200 tons, marking a year-on-year decline of 62.30%.

　　◎ The 1450mm high-performance hot-rolled coil project of Minyuan Steel Group Co., Ltd. officially began production on September 23.

　　◎ The European Commission announced the final ruling on the second sunset review of anti-dumping measures imposed on malleable iron threaded pipes and fittings, as well as ductile iron, originating from China and Thailand.