Approaching holiday boosts domestic galvanized sales

SteelOrbis Shanghai This week, the market price of galvanized coil maintained its stable tendency. The trading volume grew while market inventories of galvanized coil decreased greatly compared with last week. For example, the galvanized coil stock in the Shanghai market dropped from more than 70,000 metric tons to approximately 50,000 metric tons. On September 28, the average market price of 1.0 mm galvanized coil was RMB 5,657/mt ($717), up RMB 7/mt ($1) compared with September 21; that of 0.5 mm galvanized coil was RMB 5,993/mt ($760), up RMB 36/mt ($5), and that of 0.23 mm galvanized coil imported from Indian the Bhushan company was unchanged at RMB 7,133/mt ($905). With National Day approaching, customers have all strengthened their purchases to meet requirements for the holiday. Traders' sales showed an obvious increase compared with before. According to the August export and import data announced this week, China imported 332,100 metric tons of galvanized coils in August, up 40,500 metric tons month on month. Meanwhile, the country's galvanized coil exports in August reached 290,500 metric tons, up 5,200 metric tons month on month. Thus, the net imports of galvanized coils in August totaled 41,600 metric tons, up 35,300 metric tons compared with July. The exports of the Chinese mills are still strong, reducing the amount of resources available for the domestic market. The new prices released by the steel mills this week showed continued stability or just a slight increase, thus providing strong support for steady market prices. Galvanized coil market prices are expected to maintain stability in the short term. Among the different mills, the new ex-factory price of Jiangyin UnionSteel's galvanized coil remained unchanged, while Masteel's price increased RMB 59-351/mt ($7-44).