The tradable value for ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) has increased slightly over the past week, while offers have remained stable at high level amid the rising trend in the local market. Moreover, customers have been showing interest in imported CRC.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $510-520/mt FOB for late September, keeping in line with that recorded on July 8.
At the same time, the reference deal prices have been heard at $505-510/mt FOB, to Southeast Asia and South America, which is $5-10/mt above last week. “The appreciation of Chinese currency made it hard to reach a deal in the export market, while bullish sentiments prevailed among market players due to the good demand from downstream users in the local market,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Strong domestic market has attracted imports. According to sources, ex-Japan CRC has been sold at $490/mt CFR China.
During the given week, the surging iron ore and HRC prices exerted a positive impact on the CRC market. However, traders lowered the booking volume, resulting in supply shortage in the spot market. Meanwhile, the good demand from downstream users provided solid support to the CRC market.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,286/mt ($612.3/mt) ex-warehouse, increasing by RMB 93/mt ($13.3/mt) compared to July 8, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of July 15, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,773/mt ($539/mt), increasing by RMB 206/mt ($29.4/mt) or 5.8 percent since July 8.
$1 = RMB 6.9982
