Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained stable over the past week amid the slight declines in local CRC prices and increases in HRC futures prices.
More specifically, ex-China CRC offer prices from large mills have been at $520-540/mt FOB this week, moving sideways week on week, while the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard also stable at $510-520/mt FOB, slightly widened from $510-515/mt FOB last week.
During the given period, HRC futures prices have seen rises, exerting a positive impact on CRC prices. Market sentiments among market players improved slightly, while the demand from downstream users can hardly see significant improvement during the traditional cold winter offseason. Downstream users have been unwilling to build up stock at current stage, which might weaken the support to CRC prices. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market may fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,493/mt ($495.5/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 10/mt ($1.4/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of December 24, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,285/mt ($466/mt), increasing by RMB 40/mt ($5.7/mt) or 1.2 percent since December 17, while increasing by 0.09 percent compared to the previous trading day, December 23.
$1 = RMB 7.0471
