钢铁行业周度报告：钢材库存去化速度放缓，板材消费环比小幅增加0.5%

Investment Rating - The investment rating for the steel industry is "Recommended (Maintain)" [3] Core Viewpoints - The steel industry is experiencing a slowdown in inventory destocking, with a slight increase in plate consumption by 0.5% week-on-week [1] - The overall supply of steel is expanding, while demand is decreasing, leading to a downward trend in steel prices and a rapid decline in profitability for steel companies [5] - The report highlights that the production of long products is increasing at a higher rate than that of flat products, indicating a shift in production focus [1][3] Summary by Sections Supply - The average daily pig iron output increased to 2.3569 million tons, a week-on-week rise of 0.57% [1] - The operating rate of blast furnaces rose to 82.14%, up by 0.46 percentage points [1] - Total production of the five major steel products reached 8.8058 million tons, with long products increasing by 1.7% and flat products by 0.3% [1] Consumption - Apparent consumption of the five major steel products decreased by 1.9%, primarily driven by a decline in long products [2] - Apparent consumption of long products totaled 3.3706 million tons, down 5.6%, while plate consumption increased slightly by 0.5% to 5.5674 million tons [2] Prices and Profitability - The comprehensive steel price index fell to 98.57 points, a decrease of 3.53 points week-on-week [2] - The profitability of steel companies dropped to 64.94%, a decline of 9.52 percentage points [2] - The profit margins for rebar turned negative, while hot-rolled products saw an expanded loss, and cold-rolled products remained profitable [4][5] Inventory - Total steel inventory (including social and factory inventory) was 12.5932 million tons, with a week-on-week decrease of 1% [3] - Factory inventory increased by 3.7%, while social inventory decreased by 3.2%, indicating a mixed inventory trend [3] Industry News and Company Dynamics - Notable company reports include Nanjing Steel's revenue of 49.291 billion yuan and net profit of 1.753 billion yuan for the first three quarters of 2024, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 5.31% [21] - Shagang Group reported a total revenue of 10.807 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 6.29% [22]