Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have edged down further amid decreasing HRC futures prices and declining local CRC prices.
At present, export offers for CRC from China are in a range of around $535-540/mt FOB, for April shipment, moving down by $5/mt on average week on week. Meanwhile, the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard at $530/mt FOB, versus the range of $530-535/mt FOB recorded last week.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down amid the downtrend in HRC futures prices. Cautious sentiments have prevailed among market players, resulting in their willingness to sell at lower prices. Meanwhile, raw material prices, including prices of coking coal, coke and iron ore, have decreased, weakening the support for CRC prices from the cost side. Currently, inventory of CRC is not at high levels, bolstering prices to a certain degree. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will edge down slightly in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,733/mt ($521/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 34/mt ($4.7/mt) compared to March 12, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of March 19, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,348/mt ($467/mt), decreasing by RMB 15/mt ($2.1/mt) or 0.45 percent since March 12, while down 0.74 percent compared to the previous trading day, March 18.
$1 = RMB 7.1697