Ex-China CRC prices have indicated a slight decline over the past week even despite the rise seen in the local market. Most market participants doubt that prices will increase significantly in the near future as the sentiment is bearish, as proved by the recent fall in futures prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $850-860/mt FOB for January shipment, with the average prices $10/mt below those recorded on December 1, while the decline happened mainly late last week.
“Local CRC prices have edged up, providing some support for ex-China CRC offer prices, resulting in a stable trend since late last week” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated slight rises amid the rebounding trend in ferrous metal futures prices as the People’s Bank of China (PBC) announced that it will cut the required reserve ratio (RRR) by 0.5 percentage points on December 15. In December, the expected slack demand for CRC from downstream users may exert a negative impact on prices. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 5,403/mt ($848.5/mt) ex-warehouse, moving up by RMB 40/mt ($6.3/mt) compared to December 1, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of December 8, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,528/mt ($711/mt), decreasing by RMB 192/mt ($30.2/mt) or 4.1 percent since December 1.
$1 = RMB 6.3677
