Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have declined over the past week amid the decreases in local CRC prices and HRC futures prices.
More specifically, ex-China CRC offer prices from mills have been at $520-540/mt FOB this week, moving down by $10-15/mt week on week, while the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard at $510-515/mt FOB, versus $515-530/mt FOB last week. At the same time, according to sources, a number of ex-China non-VAT CRC offers from traders have been voiced at $503-505/mt FOB this week.
During the given period, HRC futures prices have moved down, exerting a negative impact on CRC prices. Transaction activities have slowed down during the traditional cold winter offseason. Downstream users have been unwilling to build up stocks of CRC at the current stage, which will weaken the support for prices. However, major Chinese steelmaker Baosteel has raised its local CRC base prices by RMB 100/mt ($14/mt) for delivery in January next year, bolstering market sentiments to a certain degree.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,510/mt ($496/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 37/mt ($5.2/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of December 10, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,282/mt ($464/mt), decreasing by RMB 37/mt ($5.2/mt) or 1.1 percent since December 3, while increasing by 0.58 percent compared to the previous trading day, December 9.
$1 = RMB 7.0753
