Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have moved sideways in the past week, remaining at high levels, supported by still firm demand and price increases in the domestic market in China.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $510-520/mt FOB for late September, moving sideways compared to July 1 following a slight uptrend in the previous week.
The reference deal prices have remained at $495-505/mt FOB, to Southeast Asia and South America. “Though rainy weather and floods have negatively affected the steel industry, bullish sentiments in China’s stock market have positively affected market players’ sentiments to some extent,” said a trader.
During the given week, high prices of booking CRC from mills have provided support for CRC prices in the spot market. Meanwhile, tight supply has bolstered CRC prices. At the same time, CRC inventories have risen slightly in the given week, but are still at relatively low levels. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will edge up in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,193/mt ($597/mt) ex-warehouse, increasing by RMB 67/mt ($9.5/mt) compared to June 24, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of July 8, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,567/mt ($508/mt), increasing by RMB 129/mt ($18.4/mt) or 3.6 percent since July 1.
$1 = RMB 7.0207