During the week ending March 27, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have moved sideways compared to March 20, while transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard at $610-635/mt, rising by $5/mt on average compared to March 20.
Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
| Specification (mm) | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
| 0.476 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,763 | - | 691 | - |
| 0.426 x 1,000 | CGCC | 4,923 | - | 715 | - |
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 amid the relatively steady trend of HRC futures prices. Demand for PPGI from downstream users has improved slightly, while not being as good as market players had expected. Cautious sentiments still prevail among market players and most of them only conclude purchases in line with their needs. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of March 27, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,299/mt ($478/mt), increasing by RMB 2/mt ($0.29/mt) or 0.06 percent since March 20, while decreasing by 0.27 percent compared to the previous trading day, March 26.
$1 = RMB 6.9141
