钢铁行业行业周报：政策持续利好，强化行业金融支持

Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Recommended" rating for the steel industry [1] Core Viewpoints - The steel industry is expected to benefit from continuous policy support, enhancing financial backing for the sector [3][15] - The report highlights a 3.18% increase in the steel sector index over the past week, contrasting with declines in the Shanghai and Shenzhen indices [3][7] - The report suggests that the demand for mid-to-high-end special steel is likely to grow rapidly due to policy-driven technological upgrades in the steel industry [53] Weekly Market Performance - The steel sector index rose by 3.18% during the week, while the Shanghai index fell by 1.72% and the Shenzhen index fell by 3.46% [3][7] - All three sub-sectors (plate, pipe, and special steel) experienced gains, with increases of 5.32%, 0.87%, and 0.62% respectively [9][10] - Year-to-date, the plate and special steel sectors have increased by 10.11% and 2.28% respectively [11] Industry Events - On February 27, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the People's Bank of China announced a plan to strengthen financial support for key industries, including steel [15] - The report notes that this initiative aims to facilitate the green and low-carbon transformation of traditional industries [15] Price Analysis - Domestic steel prices showed a slight decline, with rebar averaging 3445.0 CNY/ton, down 0.45% from the previous week [23] - The iron ore price index decreased by 1.53%, averaging 106.2 USD/ton [31] Supply and Inventory Trends - As of February 27, rebar social inventory was 6.294 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 25.55% [41] - The average operating rate of blast furnaces increased to 78.31%, reflecting a slight uptick in production [36]