Ex-China CRC prices have moved sideways over the past week after losses reported last week. But market sources have said that the sentiment in the market has been still bearish and some further declines are not excluded since demand has not improved much.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $660/mt FOB for October shipment, moving sideways compared to August 17.
The tradable level of ex-China CRC has been at $650/mt FOB, also stable from last week. But there has been no information about new deals.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down amid big declines in HRC futures prices in the first part of the given week, though a rebounding trend has been seen in HRC futures prices over the past three trading days. In the given week, CRC output declined, while inventory level also decreased. Demand from downstream users improved slowly, while it still needed more time to recover. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,386/mt ($641/mt) ex-warehouse, moving down by RMB 60/mt ($8.8/mt) compared to August 17, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
“The rebounding trend in HRC futures prices [early this week] may bolster ex-China CRC prices in the near future, though this support could be not enough due to slow recovery in demand,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
As of August 24, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,008/mt ($587/mt), decreasing by RMB 103/mt ($15/mt) or 2.6 percent since August 17.
$1 = RMB 6.8388