Ex-China CRC prices has moved on an upward trend in the past week amid increasing HRC futures prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at around $645-665/mt FOB on average, for January shipment, moving up by $7.5/mt on average from the previous week. Meanwhile, the tradable level of ex-China CRC offer prices has been heard at $630-635/mt FOB, up by $5/mt week on week.
During the given week, major Chinese steelmaker Baosteel raised its local base prices for CRC for delivery in December by RMB 100/mt ($14/mt), positively affecting market sentiments. At the same time, import iron ore prices have seen an increasing trend, exerting a positive impact on CRC prices from the cost side. Moreover, the production of CRC has declined slightly, bolstering prices to a certain degree. However, demand for CRC has not been as good as market players had expected, with the impact of the traditional offseason being felt. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market may move sideways in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,290/mt ($597.5/mt) ex-warehouse, increasing by RMB 17/mt ($2.4/mt) compared to November 8, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of November 15, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,000/mt ($557/mt), increasing by RMB 60/mt ($10.5/mt) or up by 1.5 percent since November 8.
$1 = RMB 7.1752
