After the modest decreasing movement recorded in the previous week, in the past week (July 8-15) the Chinese domestic cold rolled market has again turned around and entered a rising trend. As of the beginning of the week, cold rolled prices have been climbing up on a daily basis. The increasing trend seen in the past week has mainly been due to low inventory levels, higher prices from the mills and the upward movement registered in the domestic hot rolled market.
Product name | Specification | Category | Average price(RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
1.0 mm x 1,250 x C | SPCC | 4,850 | +193 | 710 | |
CRS | 1.0 mm x 1,250 x 2,500 | SPCC | 4,943 | +216 | 724 |
With two of China's leading steelmakers, WISCO and Baosteel, recently raising their cold rolled coil prices for August, market confidence has evidently gained some momentum. Propelled by the uptrend seen in the domestic hot rolled market, local cold rolled traders have followed suit and raised their offers. Thus, traders who are content to offer at relatively low levels are now busy accepting buyers' orders.
During the current week, cold rolled inventory has shown a slight increase in the eastern and southern Chinese markets, while inventory in the northern Chinese market has continued to decrease. According to the census data, during the week in question cold rolled inventory in the main Chinese markets is now standing at 960,000 mt, up 12.61 percent year on year. As of July 9, cold rolled coil inventory in the Shanghai market stood at 310,000 mt, up 1,000 mt from the previous week.
On July 8, domestic steel maker Jinan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd raised its price for CRC by RMB 40/mt ($6/mt); as a result, the 1.00 mm CRC price is now at RMB 4,490/mt ($657/mt) ex-mill, excluding 17 percent VAT, effective from July 8.
On July 13, Baosteel Group announced an increase of RMB 500/mt ($73/mt) for its CRC prices. Thus, the ex-mill price of DC01 1.0 mm x 1,250 mm x C now stands at RMB 4,526/mt ($663/mt). The price excludes 17 percent VAT and is effective as of July 13.
Looking at the downstream side, based on figures from the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers (CAAM), automotive production in China in June reached 1.1531 million units, with 1.1421 million units being sold.
On the export side, during the week in question ex-China CRC offers for the export markets are now at $600/mt, remaining unchanged for two consecutive weeks. As reported by foreign trading companies, currently few sales are being concluded.