Ex-China CRC prices have moved down over the past week amid decreasing HRC futures prices coupled with declines in local CRC prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at around $610-620/mt FOB, for July shipment, decreasing by $10/mt on average week on week. Meanwhile, the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard at $600-610/mt FOB, moving down by $10/mt on average compared to last week.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down amid declining HRC futures prices. At the same time, cautious sentiments have prevailed among market players, exerting a negative impact on the CRC market. Currently, inventory of CRC is at reasonable levels, bolstering prices to a certain degree. However, CRC producers’ capacity utilization rates have risen slightly, which will increase supply and negatively affect prices in the near future. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will ledge down in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,093/mt ($576.5/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 24/mt ($3.4/mt) compared to May 8, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of May 15, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,774/mt ($531.5/mt), decreasing by RMB 34/mt ($4.8/mt) or 0.9 percent since May 8, while down 0.4 percent compared to the previous trading day, May 14.
$1 = RMB 7.1049
