During the week ending January 26, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have continued their downtrend, though transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $700-740/mt, moving sideways on average compared to that recorded on January 19.
Specification (mm) |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
0.476 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,740 |
-33 |
808 |
-5 |
0.426 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,800 |
-33 |
816 |
-5 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
During the given week, PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market have declined amid the slack demand from downstream users. Since the Chinese New Year holiday (February 9-16) is drawing closer, fewer market participants will be willing to take part in transaction activities, which will result in a quiet PPGI market in the near future. A few traders have been building up some stocks ahead of the holiday, though this is unlikely to push up PPGI prices. However, the relatively high levels of iron ore prices will bolster PPGI prices. It is thought that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.
As of January 26, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are standing at RMB 4,102/mt ($578/mt), up by RMB 70/mt ($9.9/mt) or rising by 1.7 percent from RMB 4,032/mt on January 19, while down 0.12 percent compared to the previous trading day (January 25).
$1 = RMB 7.1074