In the past week China's imports and exports of flat rolled products have been characterized by an extraordinary silence, with almost complete stagnation observed as regards activity.
On the import side, Russian producer MMK is currently offering 2.0-3.0 mm hot rolled products at $405-410/mt CFR China's major ports for June and July shipment, up $15/mt week on week. MMK's price increase has been mainly due to the full orders received for May shipment. Consequently, MMK is not inclined to lower its prices.
Meanwhile, flat rolled quotations from Japan to China have remained stable throughout the past week, with offers of 2.0 mm SPHC HRC at $400/mt CFR, and 1.0 mm CRC at $440/mt CFR.
In addition, as a result of the continuous decrease in China's domestic flat rolled market, the profit range has become very slim for many imported materials ordered in previous times. In this context, Chinese traders have begun to lose interest in import activity and seem to have no intention of sourcing overseas materials in the short term even if import quotations continue to go down.
On the export side, under pressure from the price and quality advantages of ex-Japan products, export quotations of Chinese flat rolled products have dropped down further, but still face gloomy market prospects. At present, Chinese traders are offering common carbon HRC in the range of $460-480/mt FOB, down $20-40/mt from the previous week.
Meanwhile, export quotations of DC01 1.0 mm CRC from China's second tier producers have declined $20-30/mt week on week to $490-520/mt FOB. Since the announcement of the 13 percent rebate rate for CRC exports, quotations of ex-China CRC have been consistently on a declining trend, currently almost down to the level of the international market. However, according to most domestic mills, given the extremely soft international demand, the price decreases do not have the effect of stimulating sales.