Chinese traders have remained interested in buying imported commercial grade HRC as prices have fallen further and the demand in the local market has been firm. A deal for more than 50,000 mt of HRC from one of the major producers in South Korea has been done at $385/mt CFR China, sources have said. The suppliers have decided to give a discount of at least $5/mt on the initial offer. As SteelOrbis reported on March 31, the booking of ex-S. Korea coils was at $400/mt CFR China in late March.
Nevertheless, some sources said that the price level has not been as low as “it could be,” according to sources, taking into account recent bookings of Russian HRC to Vietnam at $370-380/mt CFR.
Traders have reported that demand in the Chinese domestic market has been showing signs of gradual improvement and, though it is unlikely that prices will increase visibly any time soon, sentiments have been slightly better. Average local HRC prices in China have added RMB 20/mt ($2.8/mt) today, April 8, to RMB 3,250/mt ($462/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information. But this is still at least RMB 50/mt ($7.1/mt) below the price level early last week.
