In the January-February period this year, China’s hot rolled coil (HRC) production amounted to 29.874 million mt, up 15.4 percent year on year, 2.0 percentage points slower than the year-on-year increase rate in December last year.
Average local HRC prices in China fluctuated within a limited range ahead of the long Chinese New Year holiday, while they moved up and reached a peak level in February of RMB 4,855/mt on February 25 amid rising HRC futures prices and increasing iron ore prices, according to the SteelOrbis data.
Cold rolled coil (CRC) output in China in the first two months of the current year reached 6.005 million mt, up by 36.1 percent year on year, which was 23.6 percentage points faster than the increase rate recorded in December last year.