Core Viewpoint - The Chengdu steel plate market experienced a pattern of "initial rise followed by stability, with a tendency to weaken" during the week of August 12-16, influenced by fluctuations in the futures market and changes in terminal demand [1] Price Trend Analysis by Product Type - **Rebar**: Prices slightly decreased due to weak futures market impact, with HRB400E Ф20mm rebar priced at 3370 CNY/ton, down 20 CNY/ton from the beginning of the week. Demand remained weak, focusing mainly on essential orders [4] - **Medium and Heavy Plates**: Prices remained stable but showed signs of weakness, with mainstream Q235B plates priced at 5240 CNY/ton. Inventory levels were around 83,800 tons, slightly down from the previous week, indicating slow inventory turnover [4] - **Low Alloy High Strength Plates**: Prices remained stable, with Q460C plates priced at 4190 CNY/ton. However, market demand was weak, leading to poor overall sales [5] - **Stainless Steel Plates**: Prices for 316L/NO.1 stainless steel plates remained at 28700 CNY/ton, with limited market improvement and a prevailing wait-and-see attitude among buyers [6] Market Dynamics Analysis - **Futures Market Impact**: The black futures market showed weak fluctuations, directly affecting the sentiment in the spot market, leading to reduced purchasing plans from end-users [7] - **Supply and Demand Imbalance**: Demand recovery in downstream infrastructure and real estate sectors was below expectations, with purchases mainly consisting of sporadic orders. Despite some production cuts from steel mills, overall inventory levels remained high, making it difficult to resolve supply-demand conflicts in the short term [7] - **Weakening Cost Support**: Prices for raw materials like iron ore and coke slightly declined, reducing cost support for steel prices, which increased downward pressure on steel prices amid bearish market sentiment [8] Behavior of Steel Mills and Traders - **Steel Mill Pricing Strategies**: Mainstream steel mills adjusted their ex-factory prices in line with market fluctuations, with some adopting flexible pricing models to encourage transactions, keeping adjustments within 20 CNY/ton [9] - **Trader Operations**: Most traders focused on reducing inventory, leading to noticeable price reductions. Some traders attempted to attract customers through discount promotions and increased financing services, but with limited success [9] Market Sentiment and Future Outlook - **Short-term Forecast**: The Chengdu steel plate market is expected to continue a weak and fluctuating trend in the coming week, with no significant positive stimuli for demand and uncertainty in futures trends, leading to potential further slight price reductions of 20-30 CNY/ton [10]

Report Summary 1) Report Industry Investment Rating No information provided. 2) Core View of the Report In the context of the decline in domestic and international crude oil futures prices, the cost support for styrene weakens. Meanwhile, the supply pressure of styrene both at home and abroad increases, while downstream demand is mediocre and even shows a slight contraction, leading to the accumulation of styrene port and factory inventories. It is expected that the domestic styrene futures 2509 contract may maintain a weak oscillatory trend in the future [3][6]. 3) Summary by Relevant Catalogs Cost Support Weakening - The main raw materials of styrene are pure benzene and ethylene, and crude oil price fluctuations directly affect styrene production costs. OPEC+ decided to increase production by 547,000 barrels per day in September, and the cumulative increase from April to August reached 1.919 million barrels per day, leading to a weak downward trend in crude oil futures prices and weakening styrene cost support [3]. - With the weakening of the previous macro - sentiment drive, the oil market is temporarily dominated by the supply - strengthening logic, and it is expected that the domestic and international crude oil futures prices may maintain a weak oscillatory trend in the future [4]. Supply Pressure Rebound - As of the week of August 6, the domestic styrene plant capacity utilization rate was 78.92%, a slight increase of 0.08 percentage points from the previous week; the overall production was 361,500 tons, a slight increase of 400 tons from the previous week, with an increase of only 0.11% [4]. - As of the end of July, the total domestic styrene production capacity was 21.792 million tons. In August, the styrene plants of Hebei Xuyang and Jinxi Petrochemical resumed operation, and there were few planned maintenance, so the overall domestic styrene maintenance loss continued to decline. If there are no sudden styrene plant maintenance situations, the domestic styrene production is expected to increase to about 1.63 million tons. In addition, multiple sets of pure benzene and styrene - related plants are expected to be put into production in August, and the domestic styrene supply is expected to remain at a high level [5]. Inventory Overall Upturn - In July, the overall demand of the three major downstream sectors of domestic styrene decreased, with a month - on - month decrease of 25,200 tons. In June, China's styrene imports were 21,400 tons, a month - on - month increase of 36.78% and a year - on - year increase of 44.91% [5]. - As of the end of July, the total sample inventory of Jiangsu styrene ports in China reached 164,000 tons, a month - on - month increase of 65,200 tons. As of July 31, the sample inventory of styrene plants was 217,300 tons, a month - on - month increase of 17,400 tons, an increase of 8.70% [6].

Group 1 - PVC futures main contract experienced fluctuations, reaching a peak of 4930.00 yuan, closing at 4920.00 yuan with a 0.70% increase [1] - Institutions predict PVC prices will remain weak due to increased supply and low demand, with expectations of low-level fluctuations [1][2] - The supply side is pressured by new production capacities from companies like Wanhua Chemical and Tianjin Bohua, while demand remains sluggish, particularly in the real estate sector [1][2] Group 2 - The Indian PVC BIS policy has been postponed for another six months, which may positively impact future PVC exports [2] - The market anticipates an improvement in the oversupply situation due to the impact of anti-involution policies and sentiment in the building materials sector [2] - The expected trading range for the PVC 2509 contract is between 4800 and 5100 yuan, indicating low-level fluctuations [2]