Chinese hot rolled prices fluctuate slightly

SteelOrbis Shanghai Affected by various market rumors, the Chinese hot rolled market fluctuated slightly over most of the past week, then following up with a quick rebound. Cold rolled prices, meanwhile, moved steadily upwards. Overall, the flats market saw bearish commercial activity, with a continuous and small increase observed in market inventory. On February 12, the average price quotation of 5.75 mm x 1,500 mm x C SS400 in Tianjin, Shanghai and Lecong has remained constant at RMB 4,100/mt ($528/mt), while that of 2.75 mm x 1,250 mm x C Q235B was up RMB 44/mt ($6/mt) to RMB 4,367/mt ($563/mt). Meanwhile, the average price of 1.0 mm x 1,250 mm x 2,500 mm ST12 has risen RMB 27/mt ($3/mt) to RMB 5,027/mt ($648/mt), while that of 1.0 mm x 1,250 mm x C ST12 was up RMB 20/mt ($3/mt) to RMB 5,010/mt ($646/mt). Recent market rumors have mainly focused on the possibilities of an export rebate reduction by China and of anti-dumping investigations by Western countries against China's steel exports. Affected by these market rumors, some traders in hot rolled panicked somewhat and sold their products at a low price. However, some optimistic traders remained calm and maintained their quotations unchanged. The net result was confusion over the market prices. Coming to the end of the week, these optimistic traders continued their purchases, boosting up the price levels. As regards cold rolled products, prices went up during the beginning of the week and then maintained their stability for the remainder of the week. Due to the upcoming Spring Festival, the trading volume was very low last week, while market inventory climbed slightly in the flat rolled market. With the rising domestic prices and the recovering demand in Southeast Asia, the export quotations of Chinese flat rolled products are on a continuous upward trend, standing around $520-530/mt FOB at the current time. In the short run, as long as the global economic environment does not see any big change, the export quotations of China's hot rolled coils will continue to rise.