Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have moved down over the past week due to some sellers wanting to push volumes overseas, but this may be the bottom since futures and local prices are up, while cost support has started to be more visible.
More specifically, ex-China CRC offer prices from mills are at $550-560/mt FOB this week, down $5-10/mt on average week on week, while the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard at $535-540/mt FOB, versus $550-555/mt last week, for shipment in late August.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have edged up slightly since some downstream users built up stocks in advance amid worries about the storms and rains caused by Typhoon Bavi negatively affecting logistics and production activities. There have been divergent trends in CRC transaction activities: for instance, trading of low-priced supplies has been better than trading of high-priced CRC supplies. Since the hot weather has hit most regions of China, demand for CRC may slacken, which will exert a negative impact on prices. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will move sideways in the coming week due to the cost pressure.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,660/mt ($539/mt) ex-warehouse, increasing by RMB 17/mt ($2.5/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of July 16, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,324/mt ($489.5/mt), increasing by RMB 26/mt ($3.8/mt) or 0.8 percent since July 9, while increasing by 0.15 percent compared to the previous trading day, July 15.
$1 = RMB 6.7909
