Over the last week cold rolled prices maintained their decreasing trend in the Chinese domestic market, though the panic among traders eased to some extent. Meanwhile, inventory has started to emit downward signals, but the leading markets are still suffering from high stock levels.
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price(RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price($/mt) |
HR |
5.75 mm x 1,500 mm |
Q235B |
4,077 |
27 |
597 |
HR |
2.75 mm x 1,250 mm |
Q235B |
4,160 |
17 |
609 |
Some sales were reported at prices below RMB 4,000/mt at the beginning of the past week. The destocking process has exacerbated the situation in the domestic cold rolled market, with new historic lows being recorded. Most end-users who finally began to see anticipated price levels late last week started to return to the market and to purchase tonnages, and this has led to an improvement in sales activities and caused prices to start to move on a flat trend.
Cold rolled product inventory is standing at 334,920 mt in Shanghai this week, down 8,420 mt as compared to last week. Despite some improvement, inventories are still not low enough. Instead, the market continues to face great downward pressure. Consideration the current consumption rate, the market is expected to trend down in the coming week.
Baosteel has announced its April cold rolled price, which is down RMB 200/mt ($29/mt). Thus, the ex-mill price of 1.0 mm CRC now stands at RMB 4,026/mt ($589/mt), significantly lower than the actual purchase prices in the physical market. Meanwhile, WISCO has also cut its cold rolled product prices for April by RMB 300/mt ($44/mt). As a result, the price of Q195 1.0 mm cold rolled sheet is now at RMB 3,960/mt ($580/mt), while the price of Q195 1.0 mm cold rolled coil stands at RMB 3,910/mt ($572/mt). In addition, Lianyuan Steel has lowered its sales price in Guangdong by RMB 500/mt ($73/mt). After the price correction, 1.0 mm SPCC cold finished coils currently cost RMB 4,500/mt ($659/mt). Besides, Kunming Steel has also cut its price by RMB 100/mt ($15/mt), with its current ex-mill price for 0.5 mm ST12 cold rolled sheets standing at RMB 4,990/mt ($731/mt), and its 1.0 mm ST12 cold rolled coils now costing RMB 4,450/mt ($652/mt). The abovementioned prices all include VAT except for the official prices of Baosteel and WISCO.
On the import and export sides, both markets are still characterized by weak sales activity. For the time being, SPCC 1.0 mm CRC remains at $600/mt FOB for the export market, but is not gaining acceptance. Many foreign traders have been complaining about stagnant business, and some have even shut down their foreign trade departments. In the import market, although import numbers have been coming down continuously, customers are still proceeding with caution due to the unclear prospects for the future market. Ex-CIS cold rolled products are currently being offered at $490-500/mt CFR, slipping $10-20/mt week on week.