During the week ending March 24, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have seen a slight uptrend, though transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $835-845/mt, edging down by $10/mt compared to last week.
Specification (mm) |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
0.476 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
6,127 |
7 |
896 |
1 |
0.426 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
6,187 |
7 |
905 |
1 |
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 edged up slightly after Baosteel raised its prices for pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) by RMB 200/mt ($29/mt) for delivery in April. However, following previous price rises, demand for PPGI has slackened, exerting a negative impact on prices. At the same time, import iron ore prices have moved down significantly, weakening the support for PPGI prices from the cost side. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of March 24, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are standing at RMB 4,253/mt ($622/mt), down RMB 106/mt ($15.5/mt) or 2.4 percent from RMB 4,359/mt on March 17.
$1 = RMB 6.8374