Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have moved down in the past week amid the sharply declining trend in local CRC prices. More small and medium-sized producers from China have been interested in export sales, seeing lower demand locally.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $790/mt FOB for late March shipment, moving down by $10/mt on average compared to January 6. Deal prices have been heard at $750-770/mt FOB, down $10/mt compared to the previous week.
During the given week, domestic CRC prices in China have decreased sharply amid declining ferrous metal futures prices and decreasing HRC prices. Approaching the Chinese New Year holiday, demand from downstream users has slackened, while inventory of CRC has increased slightly. Many regions have stepped up epidemic control measures, which will exert a negative impact on the steel market. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will remain under pressure in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 5,486/mt ($849/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 150/mt ($23/mt) compared to January 6, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of January 13, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,438/mt ($687/mt), decreasing by RMB 80/mt ($12.4/mt) or 1.8 percent since January 6.
$1 = RMB 6.4604
