During the week ending September 24, the Chinese domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) market has moved up slightly. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival at the end of last week, spot prices in the local Chinese HRC market had been slipping down as traders were eager to retrieve funds and so lowered their prices in order to sell off stocks. In the current week, prices have stopped declining and begun to recover slightly. Demand, while indicating a slight improvement, is still on the sluggish side.
Approaching the National Day holiday (Oct 1-7), market insiders hold varied viewpoints as regards the short-term outlook. Some believe that prices will trend down again, while others do not expect any significant decreases in the coming period due to high costs. It is thought that Chinese domestic HRC prices will just indicate slight upward or downward movements within the coming week.