Ex-China HRC offer prices have moved sideways in the last week as sellers have been closely watching the situation in the local market, where sentiment has started to change from positive previously to negative.
At present, export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC given by major Chinese mills are at $780-800/mt FOB for February shipment, with a midpoint at $790/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to December 14. Even though some mills have been offering at above $800/mt FOB, this could be out of the real market range, sources have said, as this means that the mill is still focused on the local market. “Following the rebounding trend, HRC futures prices have moved down over the past three trading days, affecting Chinese HRC offer prices,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
The tradable price level for SS400 coils is still at $780/mt FOB from mills, but sources said that with firm bids traders can provide $760-765/mt FOB for February shipment.
During the given week, local HRC prices have seen rises amid increasing raw material prices, while the weak performance of ferrous metal futures prices has negatively affected the HRC market recently. At the same time, demand for HRC has remained slack. It is thought that HRC prices may move on a fluctuating trend within a limited range in the coming week.
Domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 4,780-4,930/mt ($750-774/mt) ex-warehouse on December 21, with the average price level RMB 45/mt ($7.1/mt) higher as compared to December 14, according to SteelOrbis’ data. Compared with the price level on Monday, December 20, average local quotations are RMB 15/mt ($2.4/mt) lower.
As of December 21, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,599/mt ($722/mt), decreasing by RMB 49/mt ($7.7/mt) or 1.1 percent since December 14.
$1 = RMB 6.3729