Chinese exporters have attempted to increase offers for HRC further by the end of the current week, seeing better sentiment and prices locally. Also, support has come from the higher deal price levels achieved this week and the stronger Chinese currency.
Offers for SS400 HRC from a number of major Chinese mills have reached $525/mt FOB and above, while traders have been targeting above $510/mt FOB. The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China HRC, which reflects current offers, has increased by $5/mt today, October 23, to $510-540/mt FOB, with the midpoint at $525/mt FOB.
Deal prices for ex-China SS400 HRC have been reported at $510-515/mt FOB this week. A number of bookings have been done at $520-522/mt CFR on average to Vietnam, which corresponds to $510-512/mt FOB. Also, a booking to South America has been heard at $515/mt FOB. According to trading sources, the offered volume from Chinese mills is going down as they are optimistic for the near future and have already booked sufficient orders.
In the local market in China, HRC prices have been gradually moving up late this week, reaching RMB 3,895/mt ($584/mt) ex-warehouse on average, up by RMB 25/mt ($3.7/mt) over the week. As of October 23, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are standing at RMB 3,785/mt ($567.5/mt), up RMB 45/mt ($6.75/mt) or 1.2 percent from RMB 3,740/mt on October 16.
$1 = RMB 6.6703