Regional market differentiation
Chengdu market: According to data from May 2025, the price of thick specification galvanized coils (such as 2.0mm DX51D+Z) has risen to 4900 yuan/ton due to centralized procurement of infrastructure projects in the Chengdu Chongqing Economic Circle, while conventional specifications (such as 1.0mm SGCC) have only slightly increased by 10-20 yuan/ton. The regional price difference has narrowed, and the price difference between resources of the same specifications in Chongqing and Xi’an has been reduced to within 50 yuan/ton, limiting the premium space in the local market.
East China market: In the first half of 2025, the price center of galvanized sheet coil shifted downwards, from 4270 yuan/ton in early January to 3950 yuan/ton in June, a decrease of 320 yuan/ton. Inventory is lower than in previous years, but weak demand has put pressure on prices, and it is expected to continue to fluctuate narrowly in the second half of the year.
Central China market: In the first half of 2025, prices fell by 477 yuan/ton, with a significant decline in demand and a 20% decrease in trading volume compared to last year. The production of the new steel plant has intensified the oversupply, and prices may be under pressure to decline in the second half of the year.
Cost and profit pressures
The decline in raw material prices (such as a 12.5% year-on-year drop in iron ore and a 200 yuan/ton drop in the average price of zinc ingots) has not fully offset the impact of weak demand. The settlement price of state-owned steel mills for galvanized sheet coils in East China remained as high as 4000 yuan/ton in June, which was inverted from the market price and squeezed the profits of traders.
The price difference between cold rolling and galvanizing (the reasonable price difference from cold rolling to galvanizing is usually 400-500 yuan/ton) will narrow to 100-200 yuan/ton in August September 2025, reflecting the decrease in added value in the galvanizing process and the pressure on steel mills’ production profits.
Inventory and supply-demand imbalance
High inventory pressure: As of September 11, 2025, the social inventory of galvanized sheet coils reached 1.235 million tons, with a weekly increase of 25300 tons, which is at a high level in recent years. The inventory of steel mills is 463000 tons, continuously fluctuating and rising, indicating a prominent contradiction between supply and demand.
Weak demand recovery: Downstream industries (such as construction, home appliances, and automobiles) mainly rely on on-demand procurement, lacking speculative stocking demand. In the first two weeks of September 2025, the daily average transaction volume of galvanized enterprises in China was 15891 tons, a decrease of 4.5% compared to the previous month, indicating a sluggish market activity.
