The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Monday, August 5, that the Chinese currency has fallen to its weakest level against the US dollar since December 2018 due to the escalation of the trade conflict towards the end of last week when the US announced that it will impose 10 percent tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese goods. The mid-point of the PBOC’s exchange rate fell to 6.9225 on Monday from 6.8996 on August 2. Moreover, in mainland China the rate reached 7.03, while in trading outside of China it reached 7.07.
This is an important sign for the market, because Chinese exporters, who are suffering from subdued demand in the local market, will be able to provide discounts. It is heard that HRC offer prices from some mills have started to be given at $500/mt FOB as of Monday, while offers were mostly at $505-515/mt FOB last week, as SteelOrbis has been informed.
