During the week ending September 8, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have indicated a downtrend, though transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $715-725/mt, edging up by $5/mt compared to last week.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table:
|
Specification (mm) |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
|
0.476 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,787 |
-17 |
802 |
-2 |
|
0.426 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,847 |
-17 |
810 |
-2 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
During the given week, demand for PPGI has not seen significant improvement yet, while downstream users have mainly only purchased in line with their needs, resulting in price declines in some regions. Moreover, import iron ore prices have decreased in recent days, weakening the support for PPGI prices from the cost side. In addition, inventory of PPGI has been at relatively low levels, bolstering prices to a certain degree. Some PPGI producers have implemented maintenance works, shrinking the supply to the spot market, which may exert a positive impact on prices in the near future. Several stimulus policies have been issued to boost the Chinese real estate sector, which will positively affect market sentiments. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of September 8, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are standing at RMB 3,809/mt ($531/mt), down RMB 128/mt ($18/mt) or 3.2 percent from RMB 3,935/mt on September 1.
$1 = RMB 7.1788