During the week ending July 8, prices in the Chinese domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) market have continued their declining trend, while transaction activity in the overall market has remained slack. Average CRC prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the table below.
During the given week, seeking to lower inventory levels, traders decreased their prices of CRC in order to stimulate transaction activity. Meanwhile, prices of semi-finished steel, iron ore futures and rebar futures have recorded sharp declines, resulting in a feeling of panic in the finished steel market. Currently, demand remains slack as the rainy weather continues in China. Purchases by downstream users have declined, with caution prevailing among market players, especially as the Chinese stock market has seen a significant slump, causing participants in the stock market and also in the commodity markets to be worried about the outlook for the Chinese economy. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will edge down further in the coming week.
Product name | Spec. | Category | City | Steel plant/origin | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Thin CRC | 1.0 mm x 1,250 mm x C | ST12 | Shanghai | MaSteel | 2,800 | 451 | ↓120 |
Tianjin | Tangshan Steel | 2,550 | 411 | ↓80 | |||
Lecong | MaSteel | 2,750 | 443 | ↓80 | |||
Average | - | 2,700 | 435 | ↓93 | |||
Thin CRS | 1.0 mm x 1,250mm x 2,500 mm | ST12 | Shanghai | Anshan Steel | 2,840 | 457 | ↓140 |
Tianjin | Anshan Steel | 2,930 | 472 | ↓70 | |||
Lecong | Anshan Steel | 2,800 | 451 | ↓50 | |||
Average | - | 2,857 | 460 | ↓87 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and include 17 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 6.21