Ex-China HDG offers have remained stable over the past week as the Chinese New Year holiday is approaching.
Specifically, offers from large Chinese mills are standing at $580-590/mt FOB for March shipment, remaining stable week on week, while offer prices from smaller mills have been heard at $565-575/mt FOB.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China Z120 HDG stands at $565-590/mt FOB, unchanged from last week.
During the given period, HDG prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained stable amid gradually slackening demand from downstream users. Transaction activities have ground to a near halt in the final trading sessions before the long Chinese New Year holiday (February 14-23). Inventories of HDG are at relatively low levels, which may bolster prices in the future. It is thought that HDG prices in the Chinese domestic market will move sideways in the coming week.
Average 1.0 mm SGCC hot dip galvanized spot prices in China have moved sideways ($2.4/mt) compared to February 5, standing at RMB 3,937/mt ($566.5/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of February 12, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,218/mt ($463/mt), decreasing by RMB 45/mt ($6.5/mt) or 1.4 percent since February 5, while declining by 0.31 percent compared to the previous trading day, February 11.
$1 = RMB 6.9457
