During the week ending July 29, hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have fluctuated within a narrow range, while transaction activity has been weak. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports.
During the given week, market players have mostly maintained a wait and see stance. As the inventory levels in Chinese HRC spot market have continued to decline, tightness of availability has been reported for some specifications. Accordingly, HRC prices have increased slightly due to tightness in the market and further increases in futures market. However, demand from downstream industries has been weak amid high temperature and flood in China.
For the coming week, China's domestic HRC market is expected to continue to see slight fluctuations in prices due to financial tightness increasing towards the end of the month because of loan repayments.