Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have moved sideways in the past week following the big rises seen in the previous week.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $570-580/mt FOB for late October, moving sideways compared to August 19, while deals have been heard at $550-565/mt FOB, to Central and South America, with the transaction volumes being small. Bullish sentiment has still prevailed among players in the CRC market, though some of them are cautious as regards the future market prospects given the current high prices of CRC.
During the given week, inventory of CRC has been relatively low, resulting in a supply shortage in the spot market, which has bolstered CRC prices. However, downstream users have been cautious towards purchases of CRC. CRC output will remain strong as the traditional peak season for business is approaching. Meanwhile, iron ore prices have indicated downward corrections. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will move sideways in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,570/mt ($662/mt) ex-warehouse, rising by RMB 40/mt ($5.8/mt) compared to August 19, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of August 26, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,928/mt ($569/mt), decreasing by RMB 38/mt ($5.5/mt) or 1.0 percent since August 19.
$1 = RMB 6.9079
