During the week ending December 10, prices in the Chinese domestic cold rolled coil (
CRC) market have continued to indicate a slight downtrend for coil products, while remaining stable for cold rolled sheet. Transaction activity has remained at poor levels, while supply is on the plentiful side.
Average CRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Although
CRC traders have cut their prices to stimulate transaction activity, this appears to have had little effect. Downstream users have been reluctant to make purchases as the price trend is still characterized by weakness. In addition, downstream users are not inclined to replenish their inventories before the end of the year. Furthermore, liquidity is tight on the traders' side and this has had a negative impact on
CRC prices. Meanwhile, production costs provide some degree of support for
CRC prices. In the Chinese market, hot rolled prices have been more stable than cold rolled prices, and this will likely limit the room for downward movement of cold rolled prices in the future. It is expected that
CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue their slight downtrend in the coming week amid slack demand and plentiful supply.