Ex-China CRC prices have indicated sharp decreases over the past week as suppliers have been facing limited demand and have been trying to accelerate sales. Last week, the local market in China posted a sharp fall, but early this week higher futures prices have provided some support for local HRC and CRC prices, which, however, has not changed sentiment in the export market so far, as SteelOrbis learned from the market on July 20.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $660-670/mt FOB for September shipment, moving down by $45/mt compared to July 13.
The tradable level of ex-China CRC offer prices has been at $650-660/mt FOB, down by $35/mt week on week. Some small deals have been reported at the lower end of the range to Asia and South America.
“The sluggish demand from downstream users has negatively affected the CRC market,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have seen big declines amid the decreasing trend in HRC futures prices, which, however, have rebounded over the past three trading days, providing some support for local CRC prices. However, market players still lack confidence in the market prospects due to the slack demand from downstream users. It is expected that local CRC prices in China will fluctuate in the limited range with a negative bias.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,276/mt ($633.5/mt) ex-warehouse, moving down by RMB 124/mt ($18.4/mt) compared to July 13, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of July 20, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,821/mt ($566/mt), decreasing by RMB 96/mt ($14/mt) or 2.5 percent since July 13.
$1 = RMB 6.7465
