Color coated coil price continues steady

SteelOrbis Shanghai This week, the market price of color coated coil still remained stable. The market trading volume was down a little, while color coated coil inventory was still at a low level. In addition, the new ex-factory prices released by some mills also contributed to the stability. On November 24, the average market price of 0.476 mm color coated coil was RMB 6,740/mt ($859), up RMB 7/mt ($1) compared with last week; that of 0.4 mm color coated coil was unchanged from last week at RMB 7,143/mt ($909), while the average market price of 0.286 mm color coated coils imported from Taiwanese Yieh Phui was also unchanged at RMB 8,000/mt ($1,014). Due to the bad weather, and also due to the lessening of demand, the market trading volume declined slightly. However, with the available quantities of color coated coil in the market still limited, with the supply of the mills to the domestic market also down, and furthermore with the GI market price moving towards stability, this week's market price of color coated coil continued to remain steady. Besides, Baosteel released its 2007 first quarter ex-factory price list. The 2007 first quarter ex-factory price of Baosteel 0.4mm thick color coated coil increased RMB100/mt ($13), while that of Baosteel's other specifications of color coated coil remained unchanged. The color coated price of Baosteel –the largest steelmaker in China- increased slightly, which means good news for the market. Meanwhile, the ex-factory prices released by other steel mills this week also remained stable. For example, Masteel's -another influential steelmaker for the market- color coated coil ex-factory price remained unchanged.