During the week ending July 17, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable compared to July 10 amid slightly increased HRC futures prices and slack demand from downstream users, while transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard at $590-600/mt, down $7.5/mt on average compared to July 10.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
| Specification (mm) | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
| 0.476 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,740 | - | 698 | - |
| 0.426 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,900 | - | 721 | - |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
During the given week, inventory of PPGI has increased, exerting a negative impact on prices. PPGI producers’ capacity utilization rates have decreased slightly, reducing the supply to the market, thereby easing the pressure on prices to a certain degree. Currently, the demand for PPGI is slack amid the traditional off-season and high temperatures. However, major Chinese steelmaker Baowu Group has raised its PPGI prices by RMB 50/mt ($7.4/mt) for delivery in August, aiming to bolster prices. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue to fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of July 17, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,318/mt ($489/mt), increasing by RMB 27/mt ($4.0/mt) or 0.8 percent since July 10, while decreasing by 0.15 percent compared to the previous trading day, July 16.
$1 = RMB 6.7934
