During the past week the Chinese cold rolled coil (CRC) market has trended upward, while market inventory levels have dropped down slightly. As of December 8, the average prices in the main CRC markets in China are as follows:
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
1.0 mm × 1,250 mm × C |
SPCC |
5,317 |
+27 |
798 |
+4 |
|
CRS |
1.0 mm × 1,250 mm × 2,500 mm |
SPCC |
5,387 |
+17 |
809 |
+3 |
On December 8, prices of ST12 1.0 mm × 1,250 mm × C CRC stand at RMB 5,300/mt ($796/mt), RMB 5,250/mt ($788/mt) and RMB 5,400/mt ($811/mt) respectively in the Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong markets. In addition, prices of ST12 1.0 mm × 1,250 mm × 2,500 mm CRS stand at RMB 5,390/mt ($809/mt), RMB 5,350/mt ($803/mt) and RMB 5,420/mt ($814/mt) respectively in the Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong markets. All the above prices include 17 percent VAT (US$1 = RMB 6.66).
With the weather getting colder, demand in the Chinese CRC market has started to weaken. Many traders in the market think that current CRC prices are fair. However, traders are not eager to build up inventories, and so the transaction situation has not been great.
With the domestic CRC market having trended downward for weeks, the upward trend observed in the past week was not unexpected. Firstly, influenced by government policy aimed at saving energy and reducing emissions, inventory declined by a certain degree; secondly, mainstream steelmakers in China increased their ex-mill prices for December. In addition, raw material costs have been providing support for prices, while traders also have sufficient capital in hand. All the above factors have contributed to the increase in CRC market prices in the past week.
In general, inventory in the main Chinese CRC markets has lately decreased by a certain margin. The principal reason for this inventory decrease has been slow sales in the market. On December 3, aggregate CRC inventory in the main Chinese cities was 1.40069 million mt, down 12,300 mt week on week. On the same date, inventory in Shanghai was 499,390 mt, down 3,100 mt week on week.
Generally speaking, it is expected that China's CRC market will continue its upward trend in the coming week.