In the past week, the Chinese hot rolled coil (HRC) market has continued to move down, but by an increased margin. Average HRC prices in the Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
The overall HRC transaction volume in China remains low. Meanwhile, Rizhao Steel is reported to have completed large volume deliveries to Shanghai, totaling around 100,000 mt, mostly consisting of HRC. This may cause a further softening in the market.
In addition, major domestic steel producer WISCO has reduced its hot rolled coil prices by RMB 80/mt ($12/mt). Accordingly, WISCO's new price of 5.5 mm x 1,500 mm Q235 grade HRC stands at RMB 3,930/mt ($622/mt), inclusive of 17 VAT.
Summing up, it is expected that the Chinese HRC market will continue to trend downward in the coming week.