In the January-April period this year, China’s hot rolled coil (HRC) production amounted to 66.863 million mt, up 9.3 percent year on year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the same period, China’s cold rolled coil (CRC) production reached 11.537 million mt, down 4.5 percent year on year.
In April alone, China’s hot rolled coil (HRC) production and cold rolled coil (CRC) production totaled 18.25 million mt and 3.173 million mt, up 11.0 percent and 1.5 percent year on year, while increasing by 5.16 percent and decreasing by 8.72 percent, month on month, respectively.
HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved on an overall downtrend since the beginning of April amid the declining trend in HRC futures prices, with the highest level of RMB 4,430/mt ($634/mt) being seen during April 1-2, and the lowest level of RMB 4,050/mt ($575/mt) being seen during April 28-29. In May, HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market continued to indicate a decreasing trend.
$1 = RMB 7.0356