Ex-China CRC prices have moved sideways compared to December 8, though a decline was seen late last week.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $850-860/mt FOB for February shipment, with the average prices keeping in line with those recorded on December 8. Some limited trades have been done in this range, though overall buying has stayed weak.
“Local CRC prices and ferrous metal futures prices have moved up slightly, bolstering ex-China CRC offer prices,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
During the given week, local CRC prices have indicated slight rises amid the slight uptrend seen in ferrous metal futures prices and the improved sentiments among market players. The demand for CRC has remained slack, which has exerted a negative impact on prices. It is expected that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 5,410/mt ($849.3/mt) ex-warehouse, moving up by RMB 7/mt ($1.1/mt) compared to December 8, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of December 15, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,609/mt ($723.5/mt), increasing by RMB 81/mt ($30.2/mt) or 1.8 percent since December 8.
$1 = RMB 6.3716