Chinese exporters of hot dip galvanized (HDG) coils have decided to maintain their prices mostly unchanged this week, though the market outlook has been lacking clarity given the continuous fluctuations in local HDG offer prices and HRC futures prices in China.
Specifically, offers from large mills are still heard at around $735-740/mt FOB for March shipment, in line with prices recorded in last week. Meanwhile, the reference deal prices for ex-China HDG have been heard at around $700-720/mt FOB, versus $695-720/mt FOB last week.
During the given week, HDG prices in the Chinese domestic market have fluctuated within a limited range amid the stable trend of HRC futures prices. Downstream users have mostly concluded purchases in line with needs instead of speculative puchases. However, the high levels of iron ore prices have provided strong support for HDG prices from the cost side. It is expected 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 compared to December 21, standing at RMB 4,827/mt ($680/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
Following the sharp increase in HRC futures prices at the beginning of the week, as of December 28 HRC futures prices at the Shanghai Future Exchange are standing at RMB 4,096/mt ($577/mt), decreasing slightly by RMB 1/mt ($0.14/mt) compared to December 21, while indicating a decline of 0.7 percent compared to the previous trading day (December 27).
$1 = RMB 7.0974
