Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have moved up in the past week following the rising trend seen in the previous week, despite weaker HRC prices in the local market in China and falling futures prices. Moderate demand for CRC has supported prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $600/mt FOB, moving up by $10/mt compared to September 2. The reference deal prices have been at $585-590/mt FOB, to Southeast Asia and South America, with some contracts to the latter closed at the higher end of the range. Last week, the tradable value was assessed at $580-585/mt FOB.
Good demand in the local CRC market and high levels of iron ore prices have supported ex-China CRC offer prices.
During the given week, demand for CRC has improved locally. Meanwhile, inventory of CRC has been at relatively low levels, with some specifications being in short supply, bolstering prices to some extent.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,700/mt ($683/mt) ex-warehouse, rising by RMB 27/mt ($3.9/mt) compared to September 2, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
Some increase in CRC prices has been seen in both the local and export markets even despite weaker HRC prices. Average domestic HRC prices have lost RMB 60/mt ($9/mt) over the past week to RMB 3,965/mt ex-warehouse for now. As of September 9, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,752/mt ($548.5/mt), decreasing sharply by RMB 182/mt ($26.6/mt) since September 2.
$1 = RMB 6.8423
