In the past week, the Chinese hot rolled coil (HRC) market has trended upward by a small margin. Average HRC prices in the main Chinese markets can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
In the Chinese HRC market, in spite of low overall demand, prices have started to rise amid an improvement in transaction activity among traders.
At present, most traders are optimistic on the prospects for China's HRC market, and they believe that spot prices will gradually rise to RMB 4,500/mt ($716/mt) once market prices reach RMB 4,300/mt ($684/mt). Meanwhile, some traders hold the view that the steel mills, having increased hot rolled steel ex-work prices, will be able to make profits from sales of April production material. However, these traders think that the mills' higher prices could result in reduced sales volumes and in lower profit margins for traders.
It is thought that the Chinese HRC market will likely move up slightly in the coming week.