Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
1.0 mm x 1,250 x C |
SPCC |
5,667 |
+57 |
831 |
|
CRS |
1.0 mm x 1,250 x 2,500 |
SPCC |
5,917 |
+110 |
868 |
Robust demand from downstream industries, traders' positive expectations for the future pricing trend, higher raw material costs and the possibility of major local producer Baosteel raising its prices again for April have together pushed up prices in China's cold rolled market during the last few weeks. However, it is observed that some traders have continued to offer at levels which are below the mills' list prices. Local steel giant Baosteel's new price policy for April is now being awaited. If the rumor of an imminent price hike from this steelmaker comes true, market confidence will be bolstered and the current uptrend would gain strength.
During the past week, CRC prices in the cities of Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong remained on an uptrend. Meanwhile, demand from the downstream industries has been performing quite positively. At the same time, some traders have started to replenish their inventories and to raise prices cautiously with small increases.
According to official data, on March 5 aggregate cold rolled inventory in China's main cities came to 1,391,060 mt, registering a week-on-week decrease of 5,190 mt and up 15 percent year on year. Specifically, CRC inventory in Shanghai stood at 432,760 mt, 1,210 mt more than the previous week.
On the export side, Chinese mills and foreign trade companies are now offering CRC to the export markets in the range of $710-730/mt FOB, almost unchanged from the previous week.
For the coming week, it is expected that China's cold rolled market will continue to register an uptrend, but at a slower pace.