Morning Reading: Sichuan's Steel Industry Advances Measures to Combat "Involution," While Several Steel Mills in Northern China Undertake Maintenance Overhauls.

　　◎ An article by a commentator from the journal *Qiushi* emphasizes that to further stabilize market expectations, it is essential to promptly address market concerns and enhance policy predictability. Economic actors base their decisions heavily on expectations regarding future policies. Timely implementation of precise and effective macroeconomic policies in response to evolving circumstances—and enhancing the predictability of these policies—are key to guiding the market toward positive expectations.

　　◎ Currently, the steel industry in Sichuan is facing severe challenges, with regional prices continuing to decline. Recently, some speculative customers and institutions have engaged in low-price dumping practices, significantly impacting the overall market price levels in the region. To safeguard the collective interests of the industry and promote the orderly operation of the Sichuan steel market, Sichuan-based steel plants have issued resource control measures.

　　◎ Recently, the Office of the Leading Group for Environmental Performance Improvement in Key Industries of Hebei Province issued the "Several Measures to Support Leading Enterprises in Achieving A-Level Environmental Performance Across the Province." Among these measures, it is stated that leading enterprises in the steel industry may either avoid reducing crude steel production altogether or reduce the reduction ratio accordingly.

　　◎ The U.S. side stated that whether it will impose an additional 100% tariff on China depends on China's actions. In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry emphasized that while the U.S. insists on dialogue, it simultaneously threatens and intimidates by imposing hefty tariffs and introducing new restrictive measures. This approach is certainly not the right way to engage with China.

　　◎ The People's Bank of China: As of the end of September, M2 grew by 8.4% year-on-year, while the "scissors gap" between M1 and M2 in September hit a new low for the year. In the first three quarters, RMB loans increased by CNY 14.75 trillion; meanwhile, the cumulative incremental amount of social financing reached CNY 30.09 trillion, an increase of CNY 4.42 trillion compared to the same period last year.

　　◎ National Bureau of Statistics: In September, the national Producer Price Index (PPI) fell by 2.3% year-on-year, while remaining unchanged from the previous month. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined by 0.3% year-on-year but rose by 0.1% compared to the previous month.

　　◎ The State Administration of Taxation reported that, during the first eight months of this year, major policies supporting manufacturing development under the current tax system—such as tax and fee reductions as well as tax refunds—totaled RMB 1.2925 trillion. Meanwhile, the latest VAT invoice data revealed that in the first three quarters of this year, manufacturing enterprises achieved a year-on-year increase of 4.7% in sales revenue, accounting for 29.8% of the total national corporate sales revenue.

　　◎ The latest edition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Fiscal Monitor Report indicates that global public debt is projected to surpass 100% of GDP for the first time by 2029.

　　◎ On October 15, national major port iron ore transactions totaled 1.244 million tons, down 33.1% from the previous day; meanwhile, mainstream trading companies reported building steel transactions totaling 91,400 tons, a decrease of 3.4% compared to the prior day.

　　◎ This week, the average tax-free cost of molten iron at mainstream steel plants in Tangshan was RMB 2,247 per ton, while the average tax-inclusive cost of steel billets stood at RMB 3,006 per ton. Both figures represent a week-on-week increase of RMB 27 per ton. Compared to the October 15 ex-factory price of general square billets at RMB 2,920 per ton, steel plants are currently experiencing an average loss of RMB 86 per ton.

　　◎ This week, Mysteel reported that the capacity utilization rate of 314 independent coal preparation plants surveyed was 35.8%, an increase of 0.47% from the previous week. Daily production of premium coal reached 261,000 tons, up by 5,000 tons compared to the prior week. Meanwhile, premium coal inventory stood at 2.904 million tons, representing a weekly increase of 102,000 tons.

　　◎ The Gansu Jiugang 2800mm thick plate production line is scheduled to begin a planned shutdown for maintenance on October 22, with an estimated maintenance period of 15 days. This outage is expected to impact daily thick plate production by approximately 20,000 tons.

　　◎ The Shanxi Jishan Mingfu 780mm strip steel rolling line began its scheduled shutdown for maintenance on October 12, with a planned duration of 18 days. This maintenance is expected to reduce the daily output of hot-rolled strip steel by 5,500 tons.

　　◎ The Shoutang Baosheng 950mm strip steel rolling line began its scheduled maintenance shutdown on October 12, with a planned duration of 7 days. This maintenance is expected to reduce the daily output of hot-rolled strip steel by approximately 8,000 tons.

　　◎ According to Mulianda Data, although U.S. vessels account for a relatively low share of direct timber imports, shipping companies with significant U.S. capital involvement are facing substantial cost pressures, which could lead to rising ocean freight rates and increased market volatility.

　　◎ The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and five other departments have jointly issued the "Three-Year Doubling Action Plan" for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Capacity, aiming to build 28 million charging facilities nationwide by the end of 2027. These facilities will provide over 300 million kilowatts of public charging capacity, meeting the charging needs of more than 80 million electric vehicles—thus achieving a doubling of overall charging service capabilities.

　　◎ The total sales of 17 key real estate companies from January to September 2025 amounted to RMB 1,055.724 billion, representing a year-on-year decline of 14.6%. In September, the combined sales reached RMB 113.85 billion, down 5% YoY but up 1.7% MoM.

　　◎ In September 2025, heavy-duty truck sales once again surpassed 100,000 units, representing an 83% year-on-year increase and marking the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth.

　　◎ China Construction Machinery Industry Association: In September, the monthly construction start-up rate for China's major construction machinery products was 55.2%, down 9.08 percentage points year-on-year but up 0.06 percentage points month-on-month. Among these, the monthly start-up rate for excavators was 54.5%.