Ex-China HRC offer prices have moved sideways and suppliers have managed to gradually increase their sales. From one side, suppliers have seen high costs due to expensive iron ore, but from the other side, the domestic HRC market has weakened slightly over the past week.
At present, export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills are at $525-535/mt FOB for November shipment, moving sideways on average compared to last week.
Though offer prices have remained stable, in some deals Chinese sellers have managed to increase prices. For instance, around 30,000 mt of Chinese SAE 1006 HRC have been sold to Vietnam at $535-540/mt CFR, while a week ago the deal price level was at $520-525/mt CFR. The latest transaction to Vietnam at $540/mt CFR corresponds to $525/mt on FOB basis.
The tradable value for SS400 HRC from Chinese traders has been assessed at $520/mt FOB or slightly above.
“The appreciation of the Chinese currency has supported ex-China HRC offer prices, while the downtrend in the local market has weakened market players’ sentiments, though they are still optimistic towards the prospect for the market in September,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
During the given week, HRC prices in the local Chinese market have edged down due to the declining trend in HRC futures prices. Meanwhile, demand for HRC has been slack and so downstream users have concluded purchases in line with their needs. At the same time, inventory of HRC has risen, exerting a negative impact on prices.
Domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 3,980-4,010/mt ($582-586/mt) ex-warehouse on September 8, with the average price level RMB 20/mt ($2.9/mt) lower as compared to September 1, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
$1 = RMB 6.8364
