Galvanized coil prices increase steadily this week

SteelOrbis Shanghai This week, market prices of galvanized coils kept increasing steadily. Some steel mills released new galvanized coil ex-factory price lists. The market inventories of galvanized coils have not changed much and the trade volume began to enlarge. The trading volume of the market increased to a certain range compared with last week. The further increase in the market demand is the main reason. The second reason is end users' willingness to purchase more products before the one week long May Day, in order to maintain their normal production during holiday. The market inventories have not changed much compared with last week. Looking at the imports and exports; February import of galvanized coils was 284,800 metric tons, up 28,000 metric tons compared with January. The February exports of galvanized coils were 135,000 metric tons, up 48,300 metric tons month on month. Consequently, the net import of galvanized coils was 149,800 metric tons in February, down 20,300 metric tons compared with January. Because of the shortage of high grade galvanized coils, the import of galvanized coils is currently higher than export. But the prices of foreign common galvanized coils are increasing at a much higher speed than domestic prices, therefore exports are expected to surpass the imports in the long run. This week, the ex-factory prices of Angang galvanized coils increased RMB 200/mt ($25), that of TangShan Hengtong galvanized coils increased RMB 100-150/mt ($12-19), and that of Huaye increased RMB 350-500/mt ($44-62).