Chuangcai Latest News: Supply Increase and Demand Decrease for China's Five Major Steel Products, Chief Outlook on February Steel Prices

◎President Xi Jinping met with British Prime Minister Starmer during his visit to China, and Premier Li Qiang held talks with Starmer. Both China and the UK reached a series of positive outcomes, including: both sides are committed to developing a long-term stable comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the UK; Both sides welcomed the establishment of the China-UK Financial Working Group and held its first meeting; China is actively considering implementing a unilateral visa-free policy for British citizens.

◎Wang Jianhua, chief analyst of Shanghai Ganglian Steel, expects that in February, the steel market will see the gradual end of steel mills' raw material replenishment before the Spring Festival, with light transactions and continued inventory accumulation of finished steel products during and around the holiday, Pu Steel prices will continue to show a fluctuating trend, Stainless steel and other prices will rebound 。

◎This week, the supply of five major steel products was 8.2317 million tons, an increase of 35,800 tons week-on-week, a growth of 0.4% ; total inventory was 12.7851 million tons, an increase of 214,300 tons week-on-week, a growth of 1.7%; weekly apparent consumption was 8.0174 million tons, a decrease of 1.0% week-on-week 。

◎A survey of 95 independent electric arc furnace steel mills showed that most stopped production during the Spring Festival in February, with the highest number of shutdowns from February 1 to February 8, totaling 44 mills, accounting for 47.83% , nearly half. The remaining 9 mills will successively stop production after February 8, with the latest shutdown scheduled for February 15.

◎The U.S. Trade Representative recently told reporters in Davos that before a possible China-U.S. leaders' meeting in April, there is an opportunity for China and the U.S. to start a new round of economic and trade negotiations . The Ministry of Commerce responded, China is willing to make good use of the China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism to manage differences and promote cooperation 。

◎In 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics will accelerate the promotion of statistical reform and innovation, improve statistical systems conducive to the construction of a unified large market , and continue to advance localized statistics of total retail sales of consumer goods, construction output, and other work.

◎Data released by the central bank on January 29 shows that in the fourth quarter of 2025, the weighted average interest rate of newly issued commercial personal housing loans nationwide was 3.06% 。

◎U.S. President Trump stated, he will announce the Federal Reserve chairperson next week. Interest rates should be two to three percentage points lower than the current level.

◎ ◎The number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. last week was 209,000 , estimated at 205,000, with the previous value revised from 200,000 to 210,000.

◎The U.S. trade deficit in November 2025 recorded a deficit of 56.8 billion USD , estimated at a deficit of 44 billion USD, with the previous value at a deficit of 29.4 billion USD.

◎According to the Stainless Steel Branch of the China Iron and Steel Association, China's crude stainless steel output in 2025 was 40.8681 million tons, an increase of 1.427 million tons year-on-year, a growth of 3.62%.

◎According to incomplete statistics from Mysteel, as of January 29, 21 listed coal companies have announced their 2025 performance forecasts. Among them, 10 are profitable, 11 are loss-making 。

◎On January 28, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that anti-dumping duties on H-beams originating from China H-beams will expire on September 6, 2027. Interested parties should submit anti-dumping sunset review investigation applications by February 27, 2026.

◎The CME Group will increase margin requirements for New York Commodity Exchange copper futures by 20% ; the initial margin ratio for COMEX 100-ounce gold futures will be raised from 5% to 6%. The new standards will take effect after the close of trading on January 30 local time. ◎On the evening of January 29,

SDIC Silver LOF and E Fund Gold Theme LOF issued announcements; the former announced a full-day suspension on Friday, while the latter further warned of risks , Bank of China adjusted the margin ratio for silver deferred contracts from 48.26% to 50.80%. Additionally, the Petroleum Fund LOF announced it will be suspended from market open on January 30 until 10:30 that day. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region established the country's first provincial-level key metals industry group company

◎ — Guangxi Key Metals Industry Development Group Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of about 4.2 billion yuan. ◎On January 29, Venezuela's National Assembly passed legislation reforming the Petroleum Law,

including allowing private and foreign investment in Venezuela's oil industry. ◎According to incomplete statistics from Mysteel, as of January 29, 14 provinces nationwide have announced their 2026 transportation investment plans,

with total investments exceeding 1.5 trillion yuan . Among them, 6 provinces have transportation investment plans exceeding 100 billion yuan. ◎China Shipbuilding announced that the company expects its net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in 2025 to be 7 billion to 8.4 billion yuan,

an increase of about 65.89% to 99.07% year-on-year. 同比增加约65.89%-99.07%。