Ex-China CRC prices have moved up over the past week amid the increasing trend in the local market and rising raw material costs.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $930-940/mt FOB for May shipment, moving up by $10/mt compared to March 2.
The tradable level of ex-China CRC has been at $925-930/mt FOB, $20/mt higher compared to March 2.
“Improved demand has bolstered market players’ sentiments and the rising raw material prices have exerted an impact on CRC prices,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
In comparison, offers for ex-China HRC have risen by $55/mt over the past week.
CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have seen an overall increasing trend amid the rising trend of HRC futures prices in the first part of the given week, though the latter have declined over the past two trading days due to the turbulent situation in the stock market. Meanwhile, the inventory of CRC has declined, bolstering prices to some extent. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will increase in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 5,633/mt ($891.3/mt) ex-warehouse, up by RMB 136/mt ($21.5/mt) compared to March 2, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of March 9, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 5,121/mt ($809/mt), decreasing by RMB 17/mt ($3/mt) or 0.33 percent since March 2.
$1 = RMB 6.3178
