Ex-China HRC offer prices increase slightly, local prices also up by small margins

Prices of raw materials, including scrap and iron ore have moved up, providing support for HRC prices in the local Chinese market. Meanwhile, most Chinese HRC exporters have rolled over their prices this week, with only a few producers raising prices slightly higher. The mood among Chinese traders has improved slightly amid better domestic sentiments, sources said.

At present, export offers for boron added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills are at $610-640/mt FOB for September shipment, with a midpoint at $625/mt FOB, up by $5/mt week on week. Most producers have kept their offers stable, including Rizhao Steel at $610/mt FOB, Shagang Steel at $615/mt FOB and HBIS at $620/mt FOB, though mills like Shandong and Benxi Steel increased their offers by $10/mt to $640/mt FOB. At the same time, offers from smaller mills have been at $595-600/mt FOB, the same as last week.

Meanwhile, the tradable level for SS400 HRC has been heard at $580-620/mt FOB, depending on destination, up by $10/mt week on week. Most Chinese offers for SS400 HRC from traders have been heard at $620-630/mt CFR Vietnam, the same as last week, though deal prices have increased by $10/mt over the past week. In particular, several deals for ex-China SS400 are reported to have increased to $610-620/mt CFR, compared to $600-610/mt CFR last week. At the same time, according to sources, ex-China SS400 HRC offers have settled at $650/mt CFR Pakistan and at around $675/mt the Middle East, the same as last week.

During the given week, HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated certain rises amid support from increasing iron ore and scrap prices. Following the rebounding trend in HRC prices, some market players slowed down purchasing activities for HRC as they still worried about the demand from downstream users. It is thought that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.

Domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 4,020-4,120/mt ($595-609/mt) ex-warehouse on August 9, with the average price level RMB 33/mt ($4.9/mt) higher as compared to August 2, according to SteelOrbis’ data.

As of August 9, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,049/mt ($599/mt), decreasing by RMB 4/mt ($0.6/mt) or 0.1 percent since August 2, but RMB 92/mt ($14/mt) since Friday, August 5.

$1 = RMB 6.7584