Several Federal Reserve officials signaled potential interest rate cuts, while Shagang's scrap steel prices were lowered.

◎ The 20th G20 Leaders' Summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 22 to 23. Premier Li Qiang announced at the summit the "International Initiative on Green Mineral Economic and Trade Cooperation" and China's "Action Plan to Implement the G20 Initiative on Supporting Industrialization in Africa and Least Developed Countries." Currently, the "International Initiative on Green Mineral Economic and Trade Cooperation" has already garnered support and participation from more than 20 countries and international organizations.

◎ Several Federal Reserve officials have signaled potential interest rate cuts. The Fed's "number three," New York Fed President Williams, stated that with the labor market cooling, the Fed still has room for further rate reductions in the near term. Fed Governor Mester indicated that, if her vote were decisive at the next meeting, she would support a 25-basis-point rate cut. Meanwhile, Boston Fed President Collins noted she expects additional rate cuts to follow in the future.

◎ On November 22, Shagang reduced its scrap steel prices by 30–60 yuan/ton, with the delivered price for heavy-grade steel at 2,390 yuan/ton via truck transport.

◎ The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development held a national conference to advance urban renewal efforts. Minister Ni Hong emphasized that urban renewal is a comprehensive and systematic strategic initiative aimed at driving high-quality urban development. He urged focused efforts in four key areas—planning, financing, operations, and governance—while tailoring approaches to local conditions, fostering innovation, and steadily pushing forward with urban renewal initiatives.

◎ According to data released by the National Energy Administration, in October, total electricity consumption across society reached 857.2 billion kilowatt-hours, representing a year-on-year increase of 10.4%—the first time this year that monthly growth exceeded 10%.

◎ According to the official website of the Ministry of Commerce, from January to October 2025, 53,782 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, representing a year-on-year increase of 14.7%. Meanwhile, the actual utilized foreign investment reached 621.93 billion RMB, marking a year-on-year decline of 10.3%.

◎ Ukrainian President Zelenskyy delivered a speech on the 23rd local time, providing updates on the multiple rounds of high-level talks held that day in Geneva, Switzerland, by the Ukrainian delegation. He stated that the delegation has now submitted its report on the interim peace agreement outcomes, confirming that substantive discussions have indeed taken place among all parties involved.

◎ From November 17 to November 21, the national average price of threaded steel was 3,268 yuan per ton, up 0.80% week-on-week. On the supply side, weekly production of threaded steel reached 2.0796 million tons, with inventories totaling 5.5334 million tons; on the demand side, consumption amounted to 2.3079 million tons, while weekly trading volume of construction materials hit 501,900 tons. More details >>

◎ On November 21, national major port iron ore transactions totaled 916,000 tons, down 0.2% from the previous day; meanwhile, mainstream traders reported building steel sales of 95,000 tons, representing a 12.4% increase compared to the prior day.

◎ Last week, the scale of maintenance and resumption of production at construction steel enterprises significantly shrank, leading to a decline in output. Specifically, 8 production lines underwent maintenance last week—4 fewer than the previous week—while 9 lines resumed operations, down 10 from the prior week. Based on daily average rolling mill output calculations, maintenance activities impacted production by 256,400 tons, a decrease of 36,700 tons compared to the week before. This week, maintenance activities are expected to affect production by approximately 195,600 tons. More details ➡

◎ Last week, the blast furnace utilization rate at 247 steel plants was 82.19%, down 0.62 percentage points from the previous week; steel plant profitability stood at 37.66%, a decrease of 1.30 percentage points compared to the prior week; and average daily molten iron production totaled 2.3628 million tons, falling by 6,000 tons from the previous week.

◎ Last week, the average capacity utilization rate at 90 independent electric arc furnace steel plants nationwide was 51.56%, down 1.62 percentage points from the previous week and 2.14 percentage points year-on-year; the average operating rate stood at 69.13%, rising 1 percentage point week-on-week but falling 0.65 percentage points year-on-year.

◎ Last week, the total inventory of imported iron ore at steel plants nationwide stood at 90.0123 million tons, a decrease of 747,800 tons from the previous week. Meanwhile, the daily consumption of imported ore by the surveyed steel plants was 2.9168 million tons, down 9,500 tons compared to the prior week. The current inventory-to-consumption ratio stands at 30.86 days, also declining by 0.16 day from the previous week.

◎ World Steel Association: In October 2025, crude steel production in the 70 countries/regions included in the World Steel Association's statistics totaled 143.3 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.9%.

◎ On November 22, the official ignition and baking ceremony was held for No. 6 coke oven, part of Shougang Shuigang's high-quality development project aimed at restructuring its coking system.

◎ On November 21, 17 entities—including central enterprises, local state-owned enterprises, private companies, and others—held a centralized signing ceremony for eight specialized integration projects, covering fields such as new materials, artificial intelligence, inspection and testing, and aviation logistics.

◎ As of November 21, a total of five central state-owned construction enterprises have announced their new contract signings for the first 10 months of 2025, with the cumulative total reaching 5,846.059 billion yuan.

◎ The China Passenger Car Association preliminarily estimates that the narrow-definition passenger car retail market this month will reach approximately 2.25 million units, remaining flat from the previous month but declining by 8.7% year-on-year. Among these, new-energy vehicle retail sales are expected to hit around 1.35 million units, with the penetration rate projected to rise to 60%.

◎ From January to October this year, China's national railways transported a cumulative 3.378 billion tons of cargo, representing a 3% year-on-year increase and marking a new historical high for the same period; the average daily number of loaded freight cars reached 186,000, up 4% from the previous year.

17:00 Germany's November IFO Business Climate Index

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