Ex-China HRC offer prices have edged down slightly in the past week, following the downtrend seen in the local market, where demand has been weakening and offsetting some effect from lower production.
At present, export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills are at $940-960/mt FOB for November shipment, with a midpoint at $950/mt FOB, moving down by $10/mt on average compared to last week. “The downward movement in local HRC prices and HRC futures prices negatively affected ex-China HRC offers,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
The tradable price level for SS400 coils has been heard at $900-920/mt FOB lately, down from the highest level of $930/mt FOB seen two weeks ago. Though some smaller mills or traders have been ready to negotiate in this range, the trading has remained poor.
The workable price level for SAE1006 HRC from Chinese mills has been at $915-925/mt FOB.
During the given week, domestic HRC prices in China have seen slight declines for thick specifications, though remained stable for thin specifications. Ahead of the long National Day holiday (October 1-7), the bearish sentiments prevailed among market players due to the expected slack demand. At the same time, the strict power restrictions exerted a negative impact on the demand for HRC as some re-rollers have been affected and had to cut working hours, also weakening the support to HRC prices.
Domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 5,720-5,750/mt ($893-896/mt) ex-warehouse on September 28, with the average price level RMB 35/mt ($4.7/mt) lower as compared to September 14, according to SteelOrbis’ data. Compared with the price level on Monday, September 27, average local quotations are RMB 15/mt ($2.3/mt) lower.
As of September 28, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 5,671/mt ($878/mt), decreasing by RMB 90/mt ($13.9/mt) or 1.56 percent since September 22.
$1 = RMB 6.4608
