During the week ending February 6, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable compared to January 30, while transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $575-600/mt, remaining stable on average compared to January 30.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
| Specification (mm) | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
| 0.476 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,730 | - | 679 | - |
| 0.426 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,890 | - | 702 | - |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
During the given week, PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable. Starting this week, some market players have begun to leave the market ahead of the long holiday, so overall market prices have basically remained unchanged. Since the Chinese New Year holiday (February 14-23) is approaching, demand for PPGI will be weak, which may result in increasing inventories, and inventory consumption may not return to normal levels until three to four weeks after the holiday. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will move sideways in the coming week.
As of February 6, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,251/mt ($467/mt), decreasing by RMB 37/mt ($5.3/mt) or 1.1 percent since January 30, while decreasing by 0.43 percent compared to the previous trading day, February 5.
$1 = RMB 6.959