The US and China have reached a temporary agreement on tariffs, boosting China's steel market and significantly alleviating the pessimism about export and domestic demand. Home appliance companies in some parts of China have begun to replenish inventory, and short-term demand has picked up. 

However, overall, the real situation of export orders has not improved. Currently, manufacturers are focusing on delivering previous orders as soon as possible, especially for Southeast Asia. There are two main reasons. One is that the advantage of export price has weakened due to the uptrend of hot-rolled coil (HRC) price, and the price gap with Vietnamese suppliers has narrowed continuously. Another point is that the US still imposes Section 232 tariffs, coupled with anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on China, and the total import tax rate is as high as 65%. 

In addition, foreign customers are concerned about the potential cost increase after the tariff suspension period ends, so they place orders in advance to prepare stocks, which has limited benefit on medium- and long-term steel demand. 

In terms of the domestic market, steel inventories of downstream home appliance companies hit a new high in May, and the downstream manufacturing industry is gradually entering the off-season for production and sales.