Ex-China CRC prices have dropped over the past week, following declines in futures and spot prices in the local market. Th expected demand improvement after the holidays in China has not happened inside the country, putting significant pressure on prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $610/mt FOB for December shipment, moving down by $20/mt compared to October 12.
After deals signed at $615/mt FOB for CRC for South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, new negotiations and some trades have been reported already at $600-610/mt FOB, moving down from $620/mt FOB last week.
“The continuous declining trend in HRC futures prices negatively affected market players’ sentiments, while demand has not improved to the level that market players had expected, and this has also weakened the support for the market,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down as demand has not improved in line with expectations. Moreover, following the long holiday, the repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 pandemic have negatively affected the market. Meanwhile, HRC futures prices moved down, exerting a negative impact on market sentiment. 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 4,366/mt ($614/mt) ex-warehouse, down by RMB 37/mt ($5.2/mt) compared to October 12, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of October 19, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,665/mt ($515.5/mt), decreasing by RMB 105/mt ($14.8/mt) or 2.8 percent since October 12.
$1 = RMB 7.1105