Following a slight increase in ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices last week, this week most offers have decreased slightly amid the decreasing HRC futures prices and cautious sentiments among market players.
Ex-China CRC offer prices have been heard at $555-560/mt FOB this week, edging down by $5/mt since last week, though the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have not been above $540/mt FOB, down $5/mt week on week.
During the given week, the average CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down amid the increasing inventories. HRC futures prices edged down, exerting a negative impact on market sentiments. The cautious sentiments prevailed among market players as they have been unwilling to sell at lower prices amid the relatively high cost of forward delivery orders of CRC. Since it has still been in the traditional off-season in August, the high temperature and heavy rains in some regions of China weakened the support to CRC prices. However, demand for CRC is expected to improve in September, which will bolster its prices. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge up in September.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,587/mt ($502.5/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 40/mt ($5.6/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of August 20, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,402/mt ($477/mt), decreasing by RMB 49/mt ($7/mt) since August 13, while declining by 0.61 percent compared to the previous trading day, August 19.
$1 = RMB 7.1384