Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have mainly moved sideways or showed only a slight decline over the past week despite declines in local CRC and HRC futures prices.
More specifically, ex-China CRC offer prices from mills have been at $530-550/mt FOB this week, remaining stable week on week, while the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard at $520-525/mt FOB, compared to $525-530/mt FOB last week.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have edged down slightly amid quiet transaction activities. Since the Chinese New Year holiday (February 14-23) is approaching, purchasing activities from downstream manufacturing industries have slowed down, negatively affecting market sentiments. Meanwhile, a wave of extremely cold weather has hit China, resulting in snowy weather, weakening the support for CRC demand. Market players have preferred to keep relatively low levels of inventory, which may exert a negative impact on CRC prices.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,503/mt ($500/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 20/mt ($2.8/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of January 21, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,286/mt ($469/mt), decreasing by RMB 20/mt ($2.8/mt) or 0.6 percent since January 14, while decreasing by 0.06 percent compared to the previous trading day, January 20.
$1 = RMB 7.0014
