Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have moved up in the past week amid rising local prices of both CRC and HRC.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $670-690/mt FOB for late February shipment, moving up by $17.5/mt on average compared to November 25. Reference deal prices have been heard at $670-680/mt FOB, up $20/mt compared to the previous week. But overall overseas demand has started to slow down recently.
During the given week, demand for CRC in the local market in China from downstream users has been quite good, while supply has been tight, pushing up prices in the spot market. Meanwhile, inventory has been at relatively low levels, and so steelmakers and traders have been seeking to raise their CRC prices.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 5,133/mt ($779/mt) ex-warehouse, rising by RMB 77/mt ($11.7/mt) compared to November 25, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of December 2, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,267/mt ($647.5/mt), increasing by RMB 235/mt ($35.7/mt) or 5.8 percent since November 25.
$1 = RMB 6.5611
