During the week ending August 7, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have moved down compared to July 31 amid the sluggish demand from downstream users, while transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard at $590-605/mt, down $2.5/mt on average compared to July 31.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
| Specification (mm) | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
| 0.476 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,707 | -23 | 693 | -3 |
| 0.426 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,867 | -23 | 717 | -3 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
During the given week, production capacity utilization rates of PPGI producers have been at relatively high levels, while almost remaining stable compared to last week. Meanwhile, inventories of PPGI are at high levels, exerting a negative impact on prices. Slack demand has been the biggest drag on the PPGI market amid the high summer temperatures. Meanwhile, since Typhoon Dolphin is approaching, construction activities may be negatively affected, which will weaken the support for PPGI prices. Coke prices have edged down in the given period, which will soften PPGI prices from the cost side. It is thought that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will come under further downward pressure in the coming week.
As of August 7, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,243/mt ($478/mt), rising by RMB 23/mt ($3.4/mt) or 0.7 percent since July 31, while increasing by 0.65 percent compared to the previous trading day, August 6.
$1 = RMB 6.7904
