Group 1 - The apparent demand for crude steel in China from January to May is 42.888 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%, with the decline rate expanding by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year [1] - Crude steel consumption in China during the same period is 37.260 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 3.6%, primarily driven by a 12.7% decrease in real estate crude steel consumption [1] - Crude steel exports from January to May reached 5.628 million tons, showing a year-on-year growth of 15.7%, contributing to a 1.7 percentage point increase in crude steel demand [1] Group 2 - The real estate sector's crude steel consumption is expected to maintain negative growth due to ongoing inventory pressure, with new construction and construction area decreasing by 22.8% and 9.2% respectively [2] - The housing inventory sales ratio has remained high, indicating that further inventory reduction is needed, with projections suggesting it will only decrease to 19.5 months by year-end, still above the warning line of 18 months [2] Group 3 - Infrastructure steel consumption support is weakening, with significant project investment declining after a strong start in early 2023, leading to a slowdown in infrastructure-related steel consumption growth [3] - The issuance of long-term special bonds for major projects is planned to be 800 billion yuan for 2025, which is 100 billion yuan more than in 2024, but the support for infrastructure steel consumption may weaken in the second half of the year [3] Group 4 - Manufacturing steel consumption is facing challenges due to insufficient support for equipment upgrades and a slowdown in high-tech manufacturing investment growth [4][5] - The support for "old-for-new" consumption in consumer goods is expected to decrease in the second half of the year, which may further weaken the demand for related crude steel consumption [5] Group 5 - Steel exports are anticipated to be lower in the second half of the year due to anti-dumping measures affecting exports to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, with a significant reduction in exports to Vietnam [6] - The export of steel billets has increased significantly, raising concerns within the industry, leading to suggestions for export restrictions [6] Group 6 - In a neutral demand scenario, crude steel daily average demand from June to December is expected to decrease by 5.6% compared to May, with an annual demand decline projected at 1.5% [7]