In the January-February period this year, China’s hot rolled coil (HRC) production rose by 10.1 percent year on year to 25.604 million mt, with this growth remaining unchanged compared to that recorded for the full year of 2019. Despite the overall slowdown of demand in China in February, Chinese mills have decided to maintain high outputs of HRC, as the profitability of this product has been higher compared to that of some other major steel products in China. Average local HRC prices in China decreased by 10.1 percent or RMB 385/mt ($55/mt) in the given period, according to the SteelOrbis data.
At the same time, cold rolled coil (CRC) production in China decreased by 17.7 percent year on year to 3.549 million mt in the January-February period of the year, shifting from a year-on-year rise of 3.5 percent in 2019.
