Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided in the content Core Viewpoints - The five major steel products continue to reduce inventory. Rebar shows a structure of decreasing production and increasing demand, with inventory reduction accelerating further. Hot-rolled coil sees both production and demand increase, and the decline in total inventory slows down slightly, with factory and social inventories decreasing. Currently, the terminal demand for steel is slowly releasing, and the fundamentals are seasonally improving. Traders are actively selling, and the market sentiment is cautious. Low-price transactions are acceptable, while high-price demand is somewhat suppressed. Based on the current cost support, the downside space for steel prices is limited, and they will maintain a range-bound operation. However, attention should be paid to the change in market risk aversion sentiment approaching the Tomb-Sweeping Festival holiday [3] Summary by Directory 01 Market Review - Last week, as news of the easing of the geopolitical situation was released, the prices of raw materials were slightly pressured. At the same time, the replenishment momentum of terminal demand slowed down, and the acceptance of high prices was limited, resulting in a slight price correction [7] - The prices of rebar and hot-rolled coil in different regions and contracts showed different changes, and the prices of imported iron ore and some coking coal also changed. The inventory of rebar and hot-rolled coil decreased [7] 02 Steel Supply and Demand Analysis Production - Rebar production decreased slightly, with a weekly output of 197.87 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 2.69% and a year-on-year decrease of 13.00%). The national hot-rolled coil weekly output was 305.61 tons (a week-on-week increase of 1.80% and a year-on-year decrease of 5.90%) [10][13] - Both the blast furnace and electric furnace production of rebar decreased. The blast furnace weekly output of rebar was 165.21 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 2.37% and a year-on-year decrease of 17.13%), and the electric furnace weekly output was 32.66 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 4.25% and a year-on-year increase of 16.39%) [14][17] Operating Rate - Both the blast furnace and electric furnace operating rates increased. The national blast furnace operating rate was 81.03% (a week-on-week increase of 1.57% and a year-on-year decrease of 1.13%), and the electric furnace operating rate was 66.82% (a week-on-week increase of 2.89% and a year-on-year decrease of 6.15%) [18][21][23] Profit - The profit of rebar decreased slightly, with a profit of +55 yuan/ton (a week-on-week decrease of 4 yuan/ton and a year-on-year decrease of 62 yuan/ton). The profit of hot-rolled coil increased slightly, with a profit of +16 yuan/ton (a week-on-week increase of 18 yuan/ton and a year-on-year decrease of 77 yuan/ton) [24][26] Demand - The demand for both rebar and hot-rolled coil increased. The apparent consumption of rebar was 225.37 tons (a week-on-week increase of 8.30% and a year-on-year decrease of 8.14%), and the 5-day average of national building materials transactions was 9.45 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 0.33% and a year-on-year decrease of 16.04%). The apparent consumption of hot-rolled coil was 313.63 tons (a week-on-week increase of 1% and a year-on-year decrease of 7.40%) [27][31] Inventory - The inventory of rebar decreased for two consecutive weeks, with the factory and social inventories continuing to decline. The rebar factory inventory was 219.16 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 7.21% and a year-on-year increase of 4.60%), the rebar social inventory was 642.75 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 1.60% and a year-on-year increase of 5.44%), and the total rebar inventory was 861.91 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 3.09% and a year-on-year increase of 5.23%) [32][36] - The decline in hot-rolled coil inventory slowed down, with both the social and factory inventories decreasing. The hot-rolled coil factory inventory was 83.85 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 1.31% and a year-on-year decrease of 1.52%), the hot-rolled coil social inventory was 369.42 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 1.84% and a year-on-year increase of 22.69%), and the total hot-rolled coil inventory was 453.27 tons (a week-on-week decrease of 1.74% and a year-on-year increase of 14.47%) [37][41] Downstream Industries - In the real estate market, the sales of commercial housing improved week-on-week, while the land market transactions decreased week-on-week. The weekly sales area of commercial housing in 30 large and medium-sized cities increased by 18.39% week-on-week and decreased by 18.79% year-on-year, and the transaction area of land in 100 large and medium-sized cities decreased by 66.04% week-on-week and 62.77% year-on-year [42][44] - In the automotive market, the production and sales of automobiles decreased seasonally in February, with a year-on-year decline. In February 2026, the production and sales of automobiles in China were 1.672 million and 1.805 million respectively, a month-on-month decrease of 31.7% and 23.1% and a year-on-year decrease of 20.5% and 15.2% respectively. From January to February, the production and sales of automobiles in China were 4.122 million and 4.152 million respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 9.5% and 8.8% respectively [45][47] 03 Spread Analysis - The basis of rebar contracted, the basis of hot-rolled coil expanded, and the 5-10 spread of rebar and hot-rolled coil fluctuated within a narrow range. The coil-to-rebar spread fluctuated at a high level, and the 5-9 spread of iron ore contracted [49][54]