Ex-China offer prices of cold rolled coil (CRC) have stopped going up in the past week and have been fluctuating near to the previous level or slightly lower, impacted by the downtrend in the HRC market in China.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at $585-605/mt FOB for late November, edging down by $5/mt on average compared to September 9, though high-end offer prices have been higher than in the previous week. Deal prices have been at $580-595/mt FOB, mostly to South America, stable on average week on week. The declining HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have exerted a negative impact on market players’ sentiments, while CRC prices have gained some support from the supply shortage caused by maintenance works.
During the given week, the downtrend in ferrous metal futures prices has weakened the support for CRC prices. However, since inventories of CRC have been relatively low, market players have been willing to bolster their CRC prices. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,700/mt ($693/mt) ex-warehouse, remaining stable compared to September 9, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of September 16, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,689/mt ($544/mt), decreasing by RMB 63/mt ($9.3/mt) or 1.7 percent since September 9.
$1 = RMB 6.7825