Production activity among Chinese blast furnace (BF) steelmakers continued to slide in the past week as elevated feed material costs continued to squeeze their profit margins despite the recent rally in finished steel prices, Mysteel's latest survey showed.

Inventories of imported iron ore stockpiled at China's 47 major ports stood at 173.75 million tonnes by August 27, up by a marginal 146,300 tonnes or 0.1% from the previous week. Compared with the year-ago level, the stocks remained 20.8% higher.

On August 27, 2026, in the derivatives market, aluminum futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange showed slight volatility. The most-traded aluminum contract for October delivery dropped by 0.21% by the end of Thursday's daytime trading but increased by 0.52% overnight, closing the nighttime session