During the week ending March 20, cold rolled coil (CRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued on a downward trend, while the overall transaction volume has also declined. Average CRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Traders have told SteelOrbis that new materials have been entering the CRC spot market in March, resulting in a diversity of quotations among traders, with different materials in the market having been bought at different cost prices. However, sales have been better for low-priced CRC materials, though overall sales volumes are down compared to the previous week.
On March 18, major domestic producer Anshan Iron and Steel (Ansteel) issued its prices for April delivery, cutting its CR product prices by RMB 150/mt ($23/mt), which may cause other steelmakers to also reduce their ex-works prices. This would weaken cost support for materials entering the market in the coming period. Moreover, despite the mild recovery seen in the manufacturing and auto sectors this year, time is required before the impact of this positive development is observed in the CRC market.
It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move down in the coming week.