During the week ending June 4, the Chinese domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) market has indicated a slight downward movement, while transaction activity has remained at low levels. Average CRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Most traders hold a pessimistic view of the short-term prospects for the local CRC market and so they have lowered their prices in order to stimulate sales. Overall, the Chinese domestic CRC market will come under strong downward pressure in June as demand will remain sluggish during the hot summer weather and also due to the impact of the declining prices of raw materials on the production costs of finished steel. Domestic steelmakers are expected to maintain high capacity utilization rates due to their existing profit margins amid lower costs, though it is expected that they will reduce their production when CRC prices drop down further. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue their downtrend in the coming week.