螺纹日报：震荡整理-20251225

1. Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the report. 2. Core Viewpoint of the Report - The current market is in a volatile situation with supply support and weak demand in the off - season. Supply is at a relatively low level but has started to rise in the past two weeks, and there are expectations of steel mill复产 in January. Demand is showing off - season characteristics with a decline. It is necessary to observe whether the winter storage market can be launched in January. Inventory destocking has slowed down, but the overall inventory level is acceptable. The macro - outlook is relatively loose, but real - estate regulation restricts demand space. The recent market has been volatile after a low - level rebound, indicating that the current supply - demand contradiction is not prominent. It is expected to be weakly volatile in the short term [6]. 3. Summary by Relevant Catalogs Market行情回顾 - Futures price: On Thursday, the position of the rebar main contract decreased by 15,590 lots. The trading volume continued to decline compared with the previous trading day. It fluctuated within the day, with a minimum of 3,123 yuan/ton, a maximum of 3,144 yuan/ton, and closed at 3,127 yuan/ton, up 1 yuan/ton or 0.03%. The trading volume was 502,388 lots [1]. - Spot price: The spot price of HRB400E 20mm rebar in the mainstream region was 3,320 yuan/ton, remaining stable compared with the previous trading day [1]. - Basis: The futures price was at a discount of 193 yuan/ton to the spot price, which continued to support the futures price to some extent [1]. Fundamental Data Supply and Demand Situation - Supply side: As of the week of December 25, rebar production increased by 27,100 tons week - on - week to 1.8439 million tons, rising for two consecutive weeks. It was 319,100 tons lower year - on - year on the Gregorian calendar, and the production was still at a near - 4 - year low. As of December 18, the blast furnace operating rate of 247 steel mills was 78.47%, down 0.16 percentage points week - on - week and 1.16% lower than last year. The steel mill profitability rate was 35.93%, unchanged from last week. The daily average hot metal output decreased by 26,500 tons to 22.655 million tons, 28,600 tons lower than last year. This week's production continued to rise slightly, which would weaken price support to some extent [2]. - Demand side: Terminal demand was weak. The average daily trading volume of building materials nationwide remained at 90,000 - 100,000 tons, at a near - five - year low for the same period. As of the week of December 25, the apparent consumption decreased by 59,600 tons week - on - week to 2.0268 million tons, 169,000 tons lower year - on - year on the Gregorian calendar, at a near - 4 - year low. Demand showed regional differences. Construction in the north stopped due to cold weather, while in the south, existing projects were rushing to complete, with good demand resilience. The apparent demand declined due to the off - season, and it was necessary to pay attention to whether winter storage could boost demand in January [2]. - Inventory side: Inventory continued to decline. As of the week of December 25, the total inventory decreased by 182,900 tons week - on - week to 4.3425 million tons, declining for 8 consecutive weeks, but still 345,100 tons higher year - on - year. Among them, the social inventory was 2.9419 million tons, down 188,100 tons week - on - week with a slowdown in destocking, and the steel mill inventory was 1.4006 million tons, slightly increasing by 5,200 tons. The destocking of social inventory showed current demand resilience. Although the inventory destocking rate slowed down this week, the overall inventory pressure was still controllable [3]. Macro - aspect - The Central Economic Work Conference proposed to flexibly and efficiently use various policy tools such as reserve - requirement ratio cuts and interest - rate cuts to maintain sufficient liquidity and smooth the monetary - policy transmission mechanism. It focused on stabilizing the real - estate market, adjusting policies according to cities to control new supply, destock, and optimize supply, and encouraging the acquisition of existing commercial housing for affordable housing. The Fed cut interest rates by 25 basis points in December as expected. The macro - outlook was moderately positive. The 14th Five - Year Plan provided a transformation path for the steel industry, focusing on "controlling production capacity, optimizing structure, promoting transformation, and improving quality." Macro - economically, incremental demand was relatively limited, but the loose cycle provided some support, and the upper limit of demand determined the pressure [3]. Cost - aspect - The futures of iron ore and coking coal stabilized, enhancing cost support [4]. Driving Factor Analysis - Bullish factors: Low supply, continuous inventory destocking, expectations of policy easing, a large futures discount providing bottom - support, strong iron ore in the furnace charge, and stable coking coal enhancing cost support [5]. - Bearish factors: Seasonal weakening of terminal demand, more construction site closures in the north, cautious winter - storage willingness of traders, and weak real - estate data [5]. Short - term View Summary - The current market is in a volatile situation. Supply is at a relatively low level but has increased recently, and there are expectations of steel mill复产 in January. Demand shows off - season characteristics. The inventory destocking rate has slowed down, and the overall inventory level is okay. The macro - outlook is relatively loose, but real - estate regulation restricts demand space. The market has been volatile recently, indicating a non - prominent supply - demand contradiction. It is expected to be weakly volatile in the short term [6].