During the week ending November 3, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have edged down, though transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $670-700/mt, moving sideways on average compared to that recorded on October 27.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table:
Specification (mm) |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
0.476 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,733 |
-17 |
799 |
-2 |
0.426 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,793 |
-17 |
807 |
-2 |
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 edged down slightly as demand was not as good as market players had expected for the so-called “silver October”, part of the traditional peak season. Sellers under pressure from high inventory levels have had to sell at lower prices. Buyers are cautious as regards the future prospects for the PPGI market. Moreover, demand for PPGI will likely slacken in November as it will be cold in northern China. However, the current high levels of import iron ore prices will bolster PPGI prices to a certain degree. It is thought that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge down in the coming week.
As of November 3, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are standing at RMB 3,899/mt ($543/mt), up by RMB 55/mt ($7.7/mt) or increasing by 1.4 percent from RMB 3,844/mt on October 27.
$1 = RMB 7.1796