1. According to Mysteel, on November 14th, steel mills in Hebei province raised their coking coal purchase prices by 50/55 yuan/ton. After the adjustment: Grade 1 wet-quenched coking coal is quoted at 1760 yuan/ton; Grade 1 dry-quenched coking coal is quoted at 2140 yuan/ton (top-loading coking coal). All prices are delivered to the mill and include tax, effective from 00:00 on November 15th.
2. With the approval of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the fifth batch of the third round of central environmental protection inspections has been fully launched. This round of inspections will consist of eight routine inspection teams, which will begin next week to conduct routine inspections in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provinces (municipalities), and five central enterprises: China Huadian Corporation, China Energy Investment Corporation, Ansteel Group Corporation, China Baowu Steel Group Corporation, and China National Coal Group Corporation. The inspections will last for one month.
3. Julian McGill, Managing Director and Founder of consulting firm Glenauk Economics, stated that with tightening supply, Malaysian palm oil futures prices are expected to rebound to 4,300-4,400 ringgit per metric ton (US$1,018-1,042) by the first quarter of next year.
4. The USDA's November supply and demand report: The November forecast for U.S. soybean yield in the 2025/2026 marketing year is 53 bushels per acre, down 0.5 bushels per acre from the September forecast of 53.5 bushels per acre; the November forecast for U.S. soybean production in the 2025/2026 marketing year is 4.253 billion bushels, down 0.48 billion bushels from the September forecast of 4.301 billion bushels; the November forecast for U.S. soybean ending stocks in the 2025/2026 marketing year is 290 million bushels, down 0.1 billion bushels from the September forecast of 300 million bushels.
5. On November 15th local time, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced that its forces seized an oil tanker named "Talara," flying the Marshall Islands flag, in the Persian Gulf waters south of Iran on the morning of November 14th. The tanker was carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemical products and was bound for Singapore.
6. According to the Guangzhou Futures Exchange: Platinum and palladium futures contracts will be listed for trading on November 27, 2025 (Thursday). The first batch of platinum futures contracts to be listed are PT2606, PT2608, and PT2610. On the first day of listing, the margin level for platinum futures contracts is 9% of the contract value, and the daily price limit is 14% of the listed benchmark price.
7. According to Mysteel statistics, as of November 14th, the spot port and warehouse inventory of lithium ore of 28 sample lithium ore traders was 153,000 tons, a decrease of 32,000 tons compared to the previous week, of which 86,000 tons were available for sale, a decrease of 14,000 tons compared to the previous week.
8. As of November 14th, the total planned shipments of soybeans from Brazilian ports to China amounted to 2.647 million tons, an increase of 370,000 tons from the previous week. Regarding shipments, as of November 14th, the total amount of soybeans shipped from Brazilian ports to China since the beginning of November was 1.9 million tons, an increase of 898,800 tons from the previous week.
9. According to a survey by China Steel Union, as of November 14th, the survey included 91 sample steel enterprises nationwide operating electric arc furnaces (EAFs), of which 35 were integrated process steel mills and 56 were integrated process steel mills. The EAF operating rate increased. This week, the national EAF operating rate rose by 1.28 percentage points to 60.90% compared to last Friday, and the EAF capacity utilization rate rose by 0.61 percentage points to 52.55%.
