Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have dropped in the past week amid significant downtrend of local CRC prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $740-770/mt FOB for late March shipment, moving down by $35/mt on average compared to January 13. Reference deal prices have been heard at $730-750/mt FOB, down $20/mt compared to the previous week.
During the given week, CRC prices have moved down significantly as the Chinese New Year holiday approaches. Downstream users in China will gradually halt production and be on holiday, starting from late January, exerting a negative impact on CRC prices. However, inventory of CRC has been at relatively low levels, signaling traders’ unwillingness to build up stocks at present. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 5,336/mt ($823/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 156/mt ($24/mt) compared to January 13, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of January 20, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,413/mt ($681/mt), decreasing by RMB 25/mt ($3.9/mt) or 0.56 percent since January 13.
$1 = RMB 6.4836
