During the week ending November 24, hot dip galvanized (HDG) steel prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued to trend down, though at a slower rate. Meanwhile, buyers are not really interested in booking orders.
As of November 24, the price of SGCC 1.0 mm x 1,250 mm x C galvanized products in the markets of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Boxing respectively stands at RMB 5,090/mt ($802/mt), RMB 5,280/mt ($831/mt) and RMB 4,950/mt ($780/mt); meanwhile, the price of SGCC 0.5 mm x 1,000 mm x C stands at RMB 5,230/mt ($824/mt), RMB 5,600/mt ($882/mt) and RMB 4,850/mt ($764/mt) in the above respective markets. These prices include 17 percent VAT ($1 = RMB 6. 35).
Most domestic steel mills have reduced their HDG prices for December production, especially after many traders were left facing losses following purchases of October production materials. Buyers are not currently interested in concluding bookings due to the traditional off-season at the end of the year and the uncertain outlook for the market at the start of 2012. On the other hand, the traders are running short of funds coming towards the end of the month amid the current slack demand.
It is expected that HDG prices in China will continue to drop down in the coming week amid lack of support on the demand side.