During the past week (November 5-11) China's domestic cold rolled market has been moving upwards on a fluctuating trend, encouraged by the positive economic data issued by the Chinese government and also by the rising tendencies in the stock market and futures market. However, despite the uptrend in the spot market, fewer deals than expected have been concluded.
Product name | Specification | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
1.0 mm x 1,250 x C | SPCC | 4,840 | +57 | 710 | |
CRS | 1.0 mm x 1,250 x 2,500 | SPCC | 5,033 | +66 | 738 |
With rumors circulating in the market that domestic steel giant Baosteel is to raise its December prices, most market players are now expecting to see further price increases in the market in the coming period. Meanwhile, capital supply is plentiful in the current market. Taking these factors into account, prices in the period ahead are expected to remain on an upward curve.
According to the latest statistics, cold rolled inventory in China's main markets has continued to decrease. Total cold rolled inventory in the main markets now stands at 1,130,960 mt, down 24,310 mt week on week, but up three percent year on year. As of November 6, cold rolled inventory level in the Shanghai market amounted to 345,860 mt, down 16,410 mt on the previous week.
Based on the data issued by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, China's Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) in October was 55.2 percent, up 0.9 percent on September, which is 0.6 percent higher than the month-on-month growth rate in September. The result shows that domestic demand has already strengthened to some extent and is expected to improve further in the coming period.
Some traders with low inventory levels have recently started to purchase materials in order to rebuild their stocks. It is expected that domestic cold rolled prices in China will keep on rising through the end of the year.