Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have moved down slightly over the past week amid decreasing HRC futures prices and prevailing wait-and-see sentiments among market players. At the same time, Chinese suppliers have focused on the Middle East and South Africa, where they managed to conclude a few deals.
More specifically, ex-China CRC offer prices have been heard at $545-560/mt FOB this week, edging down by $10/mt on the lower end of the range since last week, though the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have not been above $540-545/mt FOB, mainly the same as last week.
According to sources, several deals for ex-China CRC are reported to have been done in the Middle East at around $585-590/mt CFR, for October shipment. Besides, a few cargoes for small quantities have been sold in South Africa at around $590-600/mt CFR, which means around $545/mt FOB.
Furthermore, offers for ex-China CRC in Turkey have been voiced at around $600-610/mt CFR, for October shipment, though no fresh deals have been reported so far.
During the given week, HRC futures prices have moved down, exerting a negative impact on the CRC market. Inventories of CRC have seen slight rises and so traders have chosen to adopt the strategy of reducing inventory levels, which has weakened prices. The release of demand from downstream users has not been steady, resulting in relatively low transaction activities. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will soften in the coming week, though some market players expect a better performance in the traditional peak season of September.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,590/mt ($505/mt) ex-warehouse, increasing by RMB 3/mt ($0.42/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of August 27, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,349/mt ($471/mt), decreasing by RMB 53/mt ($7.5/mt) or 1.6 percent since August 20, while declining by 0.92 percent compared to the previous trading day, August 26.
$1 = RMB 7.1108
