In the past week, China's hot dip galvanized (HDG) market has in general trended sideways, just as in the previous week. However, at the same time the transaction situation has improved. As of July 7, average HDG prices in the main Chinese markets are as follows:
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
Thick HDG |
1.0mm x 1,250 mm |
SGCC |
5,747 |
-10 |
888 |
-2 |
Thin HDG |
0.5mm x 1,000 mm |
SGCC |
5,860 |
0 |
906 |
0 |
On July 8, the price of SGCC 1.0 mm x 1,250 mm x C galvanized products in the markets of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Boxing respectively stands at RMB 5,770/mt ($892/mt), RMB 5,920 /mt ($915/mt) and RMB 5,550/mt ($858/mt); meanwhile, the price of SGCC 0.5 mm x 1,000 mm x C stands at RMB 5,630/mt ($870/mt), RMB 6,400/mt ($989/mt) and RMB 5,550/mt ($858/mt) in the above respective markets. These prices including 17 percent VAT ($1 = RMB 6.47).
On July 6, China's central bank announced a 0.25 percentage point hike in benchmark interest rates, to be effective as of July 7. Some market players say that the move may remove funds from large projects and could direct more money towards small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and so the interest rate hike may not have such a negative influence on SMEs. Meanwhile, Baosteel and other leading mills in China are expected to announce their ex-works prices for flat steel (including galvanized) for August. If the mills raise their HDG ex-works prices, this may contribute to a rebound in the spot market.
In addition, there is no obvious inventory in China's HDG market, while the transaction situation has improved. As a result, it is expected that China's hot dip galvanized market will at least continue to maintain a stable trend in the short term.