Ex-China HRC prices have been stable over the past week, but they have remained uncompetitive due to comparatively low offer prices from other sellers. Import bookings in China have also stopped lately as local prices have not increased further.
At present, export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills are at $450-460/mt FOB for late August shipment, moving sideways compared to last week following a rise seen in the previous week. Though reference deal prices have been heard at $435-440/mt FOB, this level has also been too high for overseas customers.
For instance, a deal for ex-Japan HRC was heard at $440/mt CFR Vietnam late last week after the previous contract for HRC of the same origin at $5/mt lower.
“HRC offer prices in China’s export market have seen an overall upward trend, which made it hard for suppliers to close deals,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, import offers from India have been heard starting from $440/mt CFR China and above, not acceptable for customers. The latest bookings were mainly at below $430/mt CFR, as reported earlier. Bids have even declined recently with traders assessing the workable level at close to $420/mt CFR.
During the given week, demand for HRC has been firm in the local market. Meanwhile, supply of some specifications of HRC has been tight, bolstering HRC prices to some extent. However, market players are cautious as regards the future prospects for the market as sentiments worsened early this week.
Domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 3,640-3,690/mt ($515-522/mt) ex-warehouse on June 9, with the average price level RMB 5/mt ($0.7/mt) lower as compared to June 2, according to SteelOrbis’ data. The decline has mainly been due to the RMB 15/mt ($2.1/mt) drop on Tuesday compared to the previous day.
As of June 9, HRC futures at the Shanghai Future Exchange are standing at RMB 3,545/mt ($501.4/mt), decreasing by RMB 30/mt ($4.2/mt) or 0.84 percent since June 2.
$1 = RMB 7.0711
