Insteel Industries (IIIN -6.33%) reported its fiscal Q3 2025 earnings on July 17, delivering net income of $15.2 million ($0.78 per share), a gross margin expansion of 650 basis points to 17.1%, and a year-over-year shipment volume increase of 10.5%. The earnings call highlighted aggressive pricing actions, higher inventories, enhanced financial flexibility, strategic responses to tariff uncertainty, and improved integration of recent acquisitions, all against the backdrop of supply constraints and mixed co ...

Core Viewpoint - The black metal sector in the domestic futures market experienced a decline across all major commodities as of April 30, with significant drops in prices for manganese silicon, iron ore, hot-rolled coil, and silicon iron [1] Price Movements - Manganese silicon futures fell by 1.28%, settling at 5714.00 CNY/ton - Iron ore futures decreased by 0.85%, reaching 703.00 CNY/ton - Hot-rolled coil futures dropped by 0.65%, priced at 3197.00 CNY/ton - Silicon iron futures declined by 0.71%, now at 5592.00 CNY/ton [1] Warehouse Inventory Data - As of April 29, rebar futures warehouse inventory stood at 199,647 tons, unchanged from the previous period - Iron ore futures warehouse inventory was at 3,200 contracts, also unchanged - Stainless steel futures warehouse inventory decreased by 1,799 tons to 163,143 tons - Hot-rolled coil futures warehouse inventory fell by 2,653 tons to 347,020 tons - Silicon iron futures warehouse inventory increased by 388 contracts to 19,180 contracts - Manganese silicon futures warehouse inventory decreased by 612 contracts to 131,826 contracts [1] Basis Data and Price Discrepancies - As of April 29, the commodity futures basis data indicated a "backwardation" phenomenon for rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, stainless steel, and iron ore contracts - Current spot prices for rebar are 3186.89 CNY, while futures are at 3109 CNY - Wire rod spot prices are 3387.5 CNY, with futures at 3286 CNY - Hot-rolled coil spot prices are 3273.33 CNY, compared to futures at 3218 CNY - Stainless steel spot prices are 13050 CNY, with futures at 12700 CNY - Silicon iron spot prices are 5548.57 CNY, while futures are at 5632 CNY - Manganese silicon spot prices are 5652 CNY, with futures at 5788 CNY - Iron ore spot prices are 779.44 CNY, while futures are at 709 CNY [1]