China Pig Iron Market Trends: Prices Remain Firm Amid Cautious Sentiment

China Pig Iron Market Trends: Prices Remain Firm Amid Cautious Sentiment

Date: October 23, 2025

The domestic pig iron market in China continued to operate with a firm yet cautious tone today. Prices remained steady to slightly stronger in most regions, supported by high raw material costs and stable demand from foundries.

Macro Environment

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held in Beijing from October 20 to 23, 2025.
The meeting fully affirmed the work of the Political Bureau since the Third Plenary Session and emphasized several key directions:

• Upholding the general principle of pursuing progress while maintaining stability;

• Implementing the new development philosophy in a comprehensive manner;

• Promoting high-quality development and deepening reforms across major sectors;

• Strengthening social governance, ecological protection, and national security;

• Advancing modernization of the military and defense industries;

• Promoting Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan affairs and major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

With most of the 14th Five-Year Plan goals nearing completion, the overall economic outlook remains positive, providing a supportive macro backdrop for the raw materials and steel industries.

Futures Market

In today’s trading session, the ferrous metals futures moved upward across the board:

• Iron ore rose by ¥3 to close at ¥777/ton;

• Coke increased by ¥71.5 to ¥1,768/ton;

• Coking coal gained ¥61.5 to ¥1,258.5/ton;

• Rebar climbed ¥13 to ¥3,071/ton;

• Hot-rolled coil was up ¥21 to ¥3,256/ton.

The steady rise in the black commodity complex reflects improved sentiment and expectations of continued policy support for industrial production.

Cost Factors

Market participants remain focused on the second round of coke price increases, which are widely expected to be implemented soon.
Iron ore prices fluctuated within a narrow range, but overall raw material costs remain elevated, continuing to provide a strong cost floor for pig iron producers.
Given high production costs, many pig iron manufacturers have shown reluctance to sell at lower prices, tightening available supply in the spot market.

Supply and Demand Dynamics

Most pig iron plants are currently fulfilling previous orders, keeping available inventory at relatively low levels.
On the demand side, foundry enterprises have shown limited acceptance of higher prices, leading to conservative purchasing activity and a muted trading atmosphere in the market.

Market Outlook

Overall, the China pig iron market is expected to remain firm with a cautious upward bias in the short term.
With cost support from raw materials and stable downstream demand, foundry pig iron prices are likely to hold steady or edge higher in the coming days, though large-scale increases remain constrained by weak sentiment in the casting sector.