In the past week, the Chinese cold rolled coil (CRC) market has on the whole moved in a slightly downward direction. Average prices of CRC in the main Chinese markets can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
CRC prices in the Shanghai market have remained unchanged in the past week, while CRC prices in the Tianjin and Lecong markets have declined slightly, leading to a drop in average CRC prices in China. According to the latest purchase managers index (PMI) figures, Chinese manufacturing industry has started to recover. Thus, downstream demand has begun to increase, and the purchasing activity of end-users has improved and so traders are more inclined to sell their materials. In the past week, the room for negotiation in traders' offers has widened, while delivery volumes are higher for low-priced materials.
There is still a lack of strong support from demand, and so traders are cautious on the prospects for the market. Many steel mills have been increasing their ex-works prices, but these increases appear insufficient to push up market prices of CRC. On the other hand, major domestic steel producers Baosteel and WISCO have kept their CRC product prices stable for May, thereby exerting a negative influence on the market. However, due to support from costs, it is unlikely prices will see significant declines.
It is expected that the Chinese CRC market will continue to fluctuate downward in the coming week.