June 11: Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde. Li Qiang stated that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with the ECB in areas such as international monetary system reform. He noted that this year, China is implementing more proactive and effective macro policies, intensifying counter-cyclical adjustments, and taking multiple measures to expand domestic demand and boost consumption. These efforts, he emphasized, are fully capable of offsetting the impact of adverse external factors.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced it will impose additional tariffs on various steel household appliances, including dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators (termed "steel derivatives"), effective June 23. It is reported that tariffs of 50% for most countries will impact imports of these steel products, potentially leading to higher consumer prices. Industry stakeholders are closely monitoring developments.
This week, the supply of the five major steel products was 8.5885 million tonnes, down 215,300 tonnes (2.4%) week-on-week (W-o-W). Total inventories stood at 13.5456 million tonnes, down 92,500 tonnes (0.7%) W-o-W. Weekly consumption was 8.681 million tonnes, with construction steel consumption down 3.5% W-o-W and plate consumption down 0.5% W-o-W. Details >>
June 12: The domestic steel market operated with a weak and volatile trend. Tangshan Qian'an general square billets were priced at 2,890 yuan/tonne EXW and including tax, down 30 yuan/tonne.
June 11: People's Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Pan Gongsheng held the first annual meeting with ECB President Christine Lagarde. Pan Gongsheng stated that the PBOC is willing to continue deepening exchanges and cooperation with the ECB. He aims to establish the Governors' Annual Meeting mechanism as an important platform for strengthening policy communication and to elevate China-EU central bank cooperation to new levels.
The National Immigration Administration announced today that effective June 12, 2025, Indonesian citizens can utilize the 240-hour transit visa exemption policy for convenient travel to China. This brings the total number of countries eligible for China's 240-hour transit visa exemption to 55.
U.S. initial jobless claims for the previous week were 248,000, the highest since the week ending October 5, 2024. This exceeded the forecast of 242,000 and the previous week's figure of 247,000.
U.S. May Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 2.6% year-on-year (YoY), matching expectations (previous: 2.4%). U.S. May Core PPI rose 3.0% YoY, below the forecast of 3.1% (previous: 3.1%).
June 12: National main port iron ore transactions totaled 854,000 tonnes, up 8.5% day-on-day. Transactions of construction steel by 237 mainstream traders amounted to 89,200 tonnes, down 14.7% day-on-day.
This week, steel billet inventories in major warehouses and ports in Tangshan (same caliber) totaled 676,600 tonnes, down 81,400 tonnes W-o-W.
This week, the operating rate of Tangshan's 87 section steel production lines was 49.15%, up 5.08 percentage points W-o-W. Finished product inventories stood at 860,400 tonnes, up 10,700 tonnes W-o-W.
June 12: According to the new survey, imported sintered fine ore inventories across 114 steel mills totaled 26.6274 million tonnes, up 1.3063 million tonnes compared to the previous period.
This week, the approved capacity utilization rate of 523 coking coal mine samples was 83.7%, down 0.9 percentage points W-o-W. Daily raw coal output was 1.878 million tonnes, down 21,000 tonnes W-o-W. Raw coal inventories were 6.849 million tonnes, up 141,000 tonnes W-o-W.
June 12: A relevant official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated that automakers' voluntary commitment to "payment terms not exceeding 60 days" demonstrates their active response to the national call and their fulfillment of social responsibility and corporate duty. This is significant for building a collaborative and win-win development ecosystem for the "vehicle-component" industry.
Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesperson He Yadong stated that export license applications for relevant rare earth items are being reviewed according to laws and regulations. A certain number of compliant applications have already been lawfully approved, and the approval process for compliant applications will continue to be strengthened.
June 12: Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart revealed plans to merge Roy Hill and Atlas Iron into Hancock Iron Ore. The name change will be effective July 1.
As of June 12, 2025, 20 automakers have released production and sales data for May. BYD retained its top position with sales of 382,500 units. SAIC Motor and Changan Auto ranked second and third with sales of 366,000 units and 224,300 units, respectively. Details >>
May 2025: Total transaction (contract) area for new commercial housing in 10 key cities was 6.4404 million square meters, up 7.6% month-on-month (M-o-M) but down 17.1% YoY. Total transaction (contract) area for pre-owned housing was 9.1832 million square meters, down 15.2% M-o-M but up 1.5% YoY. Details >>
AVC: Online retail sales value for color TVs in May increased by 31.7% YoY. Among major white goods categories in May, the online retail sales value for refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, standalone dryers, and air conditioners changed YoY by +3.9%, +11.6%, +32.2%, +26.1%, and +46.0%, respectively.
Notes on Translation:
W-o-W = Week-on-Week, M-o-M = Month-on-Month, YoY = Year-on-Year, EXW = Ex-Works (meaning price at the factory gate, excluding onward costs), PBOC = People's Bank of China, ECB = European Central Bank, PPI = Producer Price Index.
Chinese "万吨" (wàn dùn) is translated as "million tonnes". "元/吨" becomes "yuan/tonne".
Terms like "240-hour transit visa exemption" and "counter-cyclical adjustment" use standard translations for such policies.
Official or commonly used English names were used where possible (e.g., Roy Hill, Atlas Iron, Hancock Iron Ore, BYD, SAIC Motor, Changan Auto).
The ◎ symbol and paragraph breaks were retained to mirror the original structure. Headlines (like "无标题" meaning "No Title") were omitted if they didn't add information.