During the week ending September 24, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved down, while activity in the market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
($/mt) |
||||||
5.75 mm x 1,250 mm x C |
Q235B/SS400 |
3,686 |
-40 |
521 |
-6 |
|
2.75 mm x 1,250 mm x C |
Q235B |
3,806 |
-36 |
538 |
-5 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
In the given week, inventories of HRC in China have increased slightly and are at relatively high levels, weakening support for HRC prices in the domestic spot market. HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) declined in the first part of the given week, while rising sharply on September 23 due to production restriction measures issued for the autumn-winter heating season. On week-on-week basis, however, they have decreased by 0.8 percent to RMB 3,501/mt ($495/mt) on September 24.
Due to the approaching National Day holiday (October 1-7), more production restriction measures will likely be implemented, which will bolster HRC prices to some extent. It is expected that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will indicate a rebounding trend in the coming week.
$1 = RMB 7.07
