Iron ore prices surged above $105, and the yuan-to-dollar exchange rate hit a more than one-year high.

◎ U.S. President Trump stated that a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia is “very close to being reached,” but European leaders remain skeptical. According to media reports, a U.S. official revealed that the Ukrainian delegation has reached an agreement with the United States on the terms of a potential peace deal. The U.S. official said that although some details still need to be worked out, Ukraine has already agreed to the peace agreement.

◎ On November 25, both the offshore and onshore RMB spot exchange rates against the U.S. dollar broke through 7.09, reaching a new high in over a year.

◎ On November 25, Mysteel’s spot index for 62% Australian iron ore fines reached $105.6 per dry ton, up $0.85 per dry ton; the spot index for 65% Brazilian iron ore fines stood at $118.15 per dry ton, up $0.8 per dry ton.

◎ At a regular press conference, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning stated that the phone call between the Chinese and U.S. presidents was initiated by the U.S. side, and the atmosphere of the call was positive, friendly, and constructive. It is crucial for the stable development of China-U.S. relations that the two countries’ leaders engage in communication on issues of mutual concern.

◎ Local government special bonds are entering a peak period of concentrated issuance aimed at investing in government investment funds. On November 28, Guangdong Province, Sichuan Province, and Shanghai Municipality will jointly issue special bonds totaling 20 billion yuan, which will be allocated to the Guangdong Provincial Government Investment Fund, the Chengdu Entrepreneurship Investment Fund, and the Shanghai Future Industries Fund, respectively. Adding to the over 60 billion yuan in related special bonds previously issued in various regions, the total scale of local government special bonds disclosed so far that are directed toward government investment funds will exceed 80 billion yuan.

◎ The foreign trade import and export performance for the first 10 months of 2025 in 31 provinces has been released. In terms of total import and export value, Guangdong ranked first with a total value of 7800.61 billion yuan from January to October 2025, exceeding 7 trillion yuan.

◎ In his latest remarks, Federal Reserve Board Member Millan stated that current monetary policy is hindering economic development and that the U.S. economy needs a substantial interest-rate cut. Millan believes that the rise in the unemployment rate is a result of monetary policy being too tight.

◎ The U.S. Treasury Department stated that, affected by the recent federal government “shutdown,” the federal government’s budget deficit reached as high as $284 billion in October.

◎ On November 25, the nationwide spot transactions of iron ore at major ports totaled 975,000 tons, down 13% from the previous month. Transactions of construction steel by 237 mainstream traders amounted to 101,400 tons, a decrease of 22.7% from the previous month.

◎ As of November 25, the total port inventory of imported iron ore at China’s 47 ports stood at 157.5854 million tons, down 4.091 million tons from the previous Monday.

◎ From November 17 to November 23, the total iron ore inventory at seven major ports in Australia and Brazil reached 11.317 million tons, a decrease of 15.36 million tons from the previous period, representing a significant drawdown. The current inventory level is the lowest since the beginning of the year.

As of November 21, the daily coal consumption of a sample of 493 power plants nationwide totaled 4.091 million tons, an increase of 122,000 tons from the previous period. The total coal inventory at these plants amounted to 101.691 million tons, up 2.215 million tons from the previous period. The number of days of coal supply available is 24.9 days, down 0.2 days from the previous period.

◎ Yunnan Desheng: The 1,580-cubic-meter blast furnace will undergo maintenance on November 25, with an estimated maintenance duration of one day. Simultaneously, the bar rolling mill is scheduled for maintenance from November 25 to 26, and the expected impact on production is approximately 10,000 tons.

◎ On November 24, South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance issued “Ministry of Economy and Finance Order No. 1145,” announcing that, effective from the date of publication, additional anti-dumping tariffs will be imposed on hot-rolled medium- and thick-plate steel and alloy steel plates originating from China. The tariff rate for certain products will reach as high as 34.10%, and the measure will be in effect for a period of five years. Details>>

◎ From November 17 to November 23, the total transaction area of newly built commercial residential properties in 10 key cities reached 1.9193 million square meters, up 36.2% month-on-month but down 17.5% year-on-year. The total transaction area of secondhand residential properties reached 2.0597 million square meters, down 5.9% month-on-month but down 10% year-on-year.

◎ The proposal for Heilongjiang’s “15th Five-Year Plan” has been released, calling for the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries. We will vigorously promote models such as “oil-to-chemicals,” “coal-to-power,” “coal-to-chemicals,” “grain-to-food,” “livestock-to-meat,” and “agricultural-to-industrial,” thereby extending traditional industrial chains from primary processing to sophisticated and deep processing. This will help bolster trillion-yuan-level industrial clusters in energy, chemicals, and green food, drive quality upgrades in sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and light industry, and build and strengthen the province into a key national base for energy and raw materials.

◎ Recently, the “Work Plan for Categorizing and Disposing of Coal Mines with Annual Production Capacity Below 600,000 Tons in Shaanxi Province” was issued. The plan mentions accelerating the categorization and disposal of coal mines with annual production capacity below 600,000 tons, and guiding the closure and exit of coal mines that have exhausted their resources or no longer meet safety production requirements.

09:00 New Zealand Reserve Bank announces interest rate decision.

21:30 U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending November 22

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