Ex-China CRC prices have moved down slightly as compared to the previous week on the back of continuous fluctuations in HRC futures prices, which after several rounds of increases have dropped again by Wednesday, June 21.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $620-630/mt FOB for August shipment, versus $625-630/mt CFR last week.
The tradable level of ex-China CRC offer prices has been heard at $620/mt FOB, moving down by $5/mt week on week.
“The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has cut the one-year and five-year loan prime rates (LPR) by 10 basis points to 3.55 percent and 4.2 percent as of June 20, respectively, which bolstered sentiments among market participants in the CRC market, while the sluggish demand for CRC has weakened the support for prices,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
During the given week, average CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have edged down slightly amid the slack demand from downstream users, though the stimulus policy issued by policymakers bolstered market sentiment. However, the increasing inventory of CRC and the declining trend of HRC futures prices has exerted a negative impact on CRC prices in the spot market. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market may fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,263/mt ($594/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 17/mt ($2.4/mt) compared to June 14, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of June 21, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,786/mt ($527.3/mt), decreasing by RMB 61/mt ($8.5/mt) or down by 1.6 percent since June 14.
$1 = RMB 7.1795