Ex-China HDG offers have seen slight rises over the past week mainly following mills' attempts to improve HRC prices and after maintenance work, which has lowered supply. But it seems that sentiment has remained bearish, and very weak demand and falling futures are likely to pull prices down again in the near future.
Specifically, offers from large Chinese mills stand at $595-600/mt FOB for September shipment, up $5/mt week on week, while some small Chinese mills and traders, have raised their prices by $5/mt to $590/mt FOB, versus $585/mt FOB last week. As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China Z120 HDG has settled at $590-600/mt FOB, rising by $5/mt over the past week.
During the given week, HDG prices in the Chinese domestic market have fluctuated within a limited range amid declining HRC futures prices and decreasing supplies to the market. High temperatures during the hot summer have exerted a negative impact on HDG demand, dragging down prices to a certain degree. Some traders have been under pressure due to tight liquidity at the end of the month, resulting in more room for bargaining and small discounts being offered to stimulate trading activity. It is expected that HDG prices in the Chinese domestic market will edge down slightly in the coming week.
Average 1.0 mm SGCC hot dip galvanized spot prices in China have lost RMB 3/mt ($0.44/mt) compared to July 23, standing at RMB 4,017/mt ($592/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis' information.
As of July 30, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange stand at RMB 3,240/mt ($477/mt), decreasing by RMB 51/mt ($7.5/mt), or 1.5 percent, since July 23, while down 1.46 percent compared to the previous trading day, July 29.
$1 = RMB 6.7892
