Price Review

Raw Materials

• Pipe billet: On February 26, pipe billet mills raised prices by 10 CNY/ton. Hot-rolled pipe billet 20#: Tiangang 3,200 CNY/ton, Donghai 3,170 CNY/ton; Continuous casting round billet 20#: Gangtou Special Steel 3,190 CNY/ton.
• Steel billet: On February 26, ex-works tax-included price of standard square billet in Qian’an, Tangshan remained stable at 2,910 CNY/ton.
• February 27: Tangshan steel billet index 2,934.0; settlement price of standard square billet in Qian’an, Tangshan 2,910; weekly average 2,900; monthly average 2,911.33; trader spot price around 2,970 CNY/ton.

Market Situation

Industry & Economic News

1. According to a survey by Century Architecture, as of February 25, the resumption rate of 10,692 construction sites nationwide was 8.9%, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year (lunar calendar); labor attendance rate 15.5%, up 3.7 percentage points; fund availability rate 29%, up 9.4 percentage points. Among them, the resumption rate of real estate projects was 8.2%, and non-real estate projects 9.2%.
2. CISA: In mid-February 2026, daily crude steel output of key statistical steel enterprises was 2.029 million tons, up 4.3% month-on-month; steel inventory 18.12 million tons, up 19.9% month-on-month and 8.3% year-on-year.
3. In February 2026, the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) issued a final ruling on the anti-dumping case against hot-rolled coil originating from China and Japan. After equal consultations, China and South Korea reached an agreement through price undertakings. South Korea will apply quota management to Chinese hot-rolled coil exports to South Korea without additional anti-dumping duties. CISA issued a statement on this.
4. Indonesia’s 2026 nickel ore mining quota (RKAB) dropped sharply from 379 million tons in 2025 to 260–270 million tons, a decrease of over 30%. It is estimated that this will reduce global nickel ore supply by 120–130 million tons, corresponding to 700,000–800,000 tons of nickel metal, accounting for 15%–18% of total global supply.
5. This week: supply of five major steel products 7.9677 million tons, down 1% week-on-week; total inventory 18.4611 million tons, up 7.8% week-on-week; weekly consumption 5.6464 million tons, down 10.9% week-on-week. Among them, building materials consumption fell 47.6%, plate consumption fell 0.3%.
6. In 2025, China’s electrical steel output increased by 11.3% year-on-year, accounting for 1.87% of total national crude steel output. Exports hit a record high of 1.514 million tons, up 15.1% year-on-year.