Although not all Chinese HRC suppliers have returned to the market after the Labor Day holiday, those who have returned are reported to have decreased their export offers given the still negative sentiments in the futures and local HRC markets.
According to market insiders, on Thursday, May 4, export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills have settled at $585-615/mt FOB, with a midpoint at 600/mt FOB, down by $15/mt compared to offers at the beginning of last week and down by $7.5/mt since the end of last week. “Not all big mills have come up with new HRC offers so far. However, some have already been offering at lower levels, while those like Shagang Steel Group have sustained their offers at $615/mt FOB,” a market insider said. At the same time, offers from smaller mills have been voiced at around $555-560/mt FOB, the same as last week.
At the same time, Chinese traders who were offering their materials at $560-570/mt CFR Vietnam at the end of last week, this week have returned to the market with lower offers at $550-560/mt CFR. Besides, according to sources, several offers for ex-China SS400 and Q195 HRC have already been reported at $540/mt CFR Vietnam for June shipment, with bids voiced at $535/mt CFR. Thus, the lower end of the range of tradable prices for ex-China coils has dropped to $530/mt FOB, versus $545/mt FOB last week, while the higher end of the range has remained unchanged at around $570/mt FOB. Meanwhile, ex-China SAE1006 HRC has been extremely rare in Vietnam, with the indicative prices standing at $610-625/mt CFR, the same as last week.
Furthermore, according to sources, a deal for 10,000 mt of ex-China HRC was signed with an Omani buyer through a trader at $660/mt CFR at the end of last week, though offers for ex-China SS400 HRC to the UAE have remained unchanged at $600-630/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, domestic HRC prices in China have settled at RMB 3,900-4,160/mt ($564-602/mt) ex-warehouse on May 4, with the average price level RMB 20/mt ($3/mt) lower compared to Friday, April 28, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
As of May 4, HRC futures prices at the Shanghai Future Exchange are standing at RMB 3,663/mt (530.5/mt), decreasing by RMB 77/mt ($11.2/mt) or 2.1 percent since April 27.
$1 = RMB 6.9054