Influenced by the increase in domestic prices of wire rod, rebar and hot rolled coil (HRC), during the past week China's cold rolled coil (CRC) market first saw a slowdown in its declining trend and saw a small uptick in prices at the end of the week. With the small increase, there has been an improvement in market sentiment, though the general transaction volume is at normal levels.
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
CRC |
1.0 mm ×1,250 mm ×C |
SPCC |
4990 |
+7 |
736 |
CRS |
1.0 mm ×1,250 mm ×2,500 mm |
SPCC |
5227 |
-23 |
771 |
On July 21, the price of ST12 1.0 mm × 1,250 × C cold rolled coil stood at RMB 4,870/mt ($718/mt), RMB 5,000/mt ($737/mt) and RMB 5,100/mt ($752/mt) respectively in the Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong markets. At the same time, the prices of ST12 1.0 mm × 1,250 mm × 2,500 mm cold plate stood at RMB 5,180/mt ($764/mt), RMB 5,100/mt ($752/mt) and RMB 5,400/mt ($796/mt) respectively in the Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong markets. All the above prices include 17 percent VAT (US$1 = RMB 6.78).
In China's cold rolled coil market, some inquiries heard for large volume orders have made it difficult for prices to drop further. On the traders' side, Chinese CRC prices were at low levels for a long time, and, faced with rising prices, some large traders have started to build up inventory, while traders with sufficient quantities of materials have slowed down their supplies to the market. However, generally speaking, given that the market trend still lacks clarity, both traders and purchasers continue to be cautious. There are many inquiries in the market, but the actual transaction volume is at normal levels.
Inventory in the main cities in China has seen an overall increase. On July 16, aggregate CRC inventory in the main Chinese cities was 1,381,560 mt, up 6,310 mt week on week. The southern Chinese market saw the greatest increase in inventory, while the eastern Chinese market saw the biggest decrease. On July 16, CRC inventory in Shanghai stood at 457,960 mt, down 590 mt week on week.
Generally speaking, after the long-standing decreasing trend, current Chinese CRC spot prices may be considered to have touched bottom. However, supply from the steelmakers has not decreased. For the coming week, it is expected that the Chinese CRC market will mainly continue to trend sideways and that prices will not increase much.