During the week ending May 22, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have moved down compared to May 15 amid the declining HRC futures prices, while transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $635-650/mt, moving sideways on average compared to that recorded on May 15.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
| Specification (mm) | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
| 0.476 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,823 | -50 | 705 | -7 |
| 0.426 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,983 | -50 | 729 | -7 |
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 moved down amid the declining HRC futures prices. Cautious sentiments started to prevail among market players as the traditional offseason is approaching. The production outputs of PPGI have decreased slightly compared to the previous week. At the same time, iron ore prices moved down, weakening the support to PPGI prices from cost side. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will soften in the coming week.
As of May 22, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,385/mt ($495/mt), decreasing by RMB 61/mt ($8.9/mt) or 1.8 percent since May 15, while decreasing by 0.73 percent compared to the previous trading day, May 21.
$1 = RMB 6.8373
