The foundry industry is currently in its off-season, coinciding with the wheat harvest period. Both small and medium-sized foundries are on holiday and halted production, and large-scale casting enterprises also have few orders. The overall market is filled with a pessimistic atmosphere, with weak trading enthusiasm. Although the shipment situation at various iron mills is not good, the factories are not operating at full capacity, and inventory is not large. There is not much stock in traders' hands, and the overall market sentiment is stable. Iron market quotations are stable, with no improvement in demand, poor transactions, and low inventory. Due to the weak steel market, most iron manufacturers are not optimistic about the future market, so the actual transactions of iron are mostly done on a case-by-case basis, and the operational approach of most downstream enterprises is to buy as needed. Considering all factors, it is expected that the short-term iron market will continue to remain weak and stable.
Today, the domestic coking coal market remains weak, with the 16Mn seamless steel tube market showing slight slackness in transactions. Merchants are quite pessimistic, with the market predominantly in a wait-and-see mode, and steel companies are procuring cautiously. According to information from coking enterprises, the inventory of coking coal is generally low in most areas, with good shipment conditions. Although the price of coking coal remains weak, the upstream price of coking coal has been declining along with the poor coal market, leading to a decrease in cost and demand, which, despite the low price of coking coal, still allows for a small profit margin for coking enterprises. Based on the current situation, the steel market is weakly performing, with prices of various products falling, and with no positive news stimulating the market, it is predicted that the domestic coking coal market will continue to be weak in the short term, with room for further price decreases. Recently, the import ore market has seen a slight consolidation, although long-term spot prices and financial derivative product prices have risen to some extent, it has been difficult to adjust port spot prices upwards. With the steel market not showing significant improvement, most purchasers are pushing for lower prices, and once the mainstream ore prices exceed expectations, the demand for 16Mn seamless steel tubes will shift to non-mainstream or lower-grade ore resources. From the current market situation, port spot resources are still limited, with both supply and demand remaining in a deadlock. The domestic ore market is overall stable, with slight adjustments in the Liaodong area of Northeast China, and prices in Dandong and other areas have slightly decreased due to steel companies' price-cutting purchases. Today, the main contract for iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange showed a strong trend, with the entire day presenting a volatile upward trend. The domestic pig iron market is generally stable, with some regional price adjustments and average transaction volume.