In the January-March period this year, China’s hot rolled coil (HRC) production amounted to 44.779 million mt, down 0.7 percent year on year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
HRC futures prices in China indicated sharp decreases from the beginning of March, exerting a negative impact on the spot market. At the same time, the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in many regions of China also weakened the support for the HRC market. HRC prices bottomed up from mid-March amid the rebounding trend in HRC futures prices.
In March, China’s cold rolled coil (CRC) production reached 10.677 million mt, up 1.5 percent year on year.