HK Stock Market Move | Steel stocks mostly rose, MAANSHAN IRON (00323) up more than 6%, steel companies' profit margins have rebounded.

Most of the steel stocks are rising. As of the time of publication, Maanshan Iron (00323) rose by 6.52% to HK$0.98, Angang Steel (00347) rose by 6.42% to HK$1.16, Chongqing Iron (01053) rose by 3.28% to HK$0.63, and China Oriental (00581) rose by 1.89% to HK$1.08. In terms of news, Guotai Junan pointed out that as of September 20, 2024, the profit margin of 247 steel companies was 9.96%, an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the previous period and has been increasing for 4 consecutive weeks. Currently, the industry still maintains a deep loss state. The bank believes that the elasticity of production growth is limited, but with the continued recovery of demand in the peak season, there is still room for profit margin improvement. From the demand side, the demand share of real estate has dropped to below 20% in the past two years. The bank expects the negative drag of real estate on the steel industry to gradually decrease. Infrastructure is still expected to play a supporting role, and demand still has some support. The manufacturing industry maintains a steady growth trend and is expected to offset the decline in steel demand from the real estate sector. In addition, on September 23, the National Development and Reform Commission held a special press conference. Deputy Director Zhao Chenxin revealed that China Resources Recycling Group is being established to promote the establishment of a national and functional resource recycling platform. China Baowu's scrap steel recycling business is expected to be integrated into the new central enterprise as a solid support for promoting recycling and reuse in the future.