During the week ending September 10, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have edged up compared to the previous week, while activity in the market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
| Product name | Specification | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly chagnge ($/mt) |
| HRC | 5.75 mm x 1,250 mm x C | Q235B/SS400 | 3,740 | 30 | 528 | 5 |
| HRC | 2.75 mm x 1,250 mm x C | Q235B | 3,860 | 33 | 545 | 5 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
The People’s Bank of China (PBC) announced on September 6 that it has decided to lower the required reserve ratio (RRR) for financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points on September 16, boosting market players’ sentiments in ferrous metal market. HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) have risen from RMB 3,454/mt on September 3 to RMB 3,522/mt ($497/mt) on September 10, up by 2.0 percent.
Meanwhile, steelmakers’ production output has been at comparatively high level, still exerting a negative impact on HRC market. As it is approaching to the Mid-Autumn Day holiday (September 13-15), market players expected that downstream users might build up stock. It is expected that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will move up slightly in the coming week.
$1 = RMB 7.09