Chinese flat rolled market started to move upwards

Chinese flat rolled market started to move upwards

Market players report that the flat rolled market has started to pick up in China. Cold rolled prices are reportedly up by RMB 100/mt (around $12/mt) on average. Hot rolled prices in local Chinese market are also up but by a lesser margin; i.e. RMB 40-50/mt which corresponds to abt. $5-6/mt on average. While prices of Russian and Ukrainian origin hot rolled and cold rolled steel are going down elsewhere in the world, there are reportedly not many offers from Russian mills in the Chinese market. That is, of course, due to booming demand in local Russian market. Ukrainian origin material offers are also limited for Chinese market. As a result; offer prices are going up despite the reluctance of Chinese buyers to place any orders.