During the week ending April 2, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have edged up slightly, 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.
During the given week, the value-added tax for the steel industry in China has been reduced to 13 percent from the previous 16 percent, weakening the support for domestic HRC prices. Traders have booked HRC orders at relatively high price levels and so they are unwilling to lower their prices by a large margin. Meanwhile, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) have increased in the given week, which will bolster HRC prices in the spot market. It is expected that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Product Name |
Spec. |
Quality |
City |
Steel Plant/Origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Medium HRC |
5.75 mm x 1,500 mm x C |
Q235B/SS400 |
Shanghai |
Ansteel |
3.860 |
575 |
0 |
Tianjin |
Ansteel |
3,850 |
574 |
↑50 |
|||
Lecong |
Liuzhou Steel |
3,850 |
574 |
↑10 |
|||
Average |
- |
3,853 |
574 |
↑20 |
|||
Thin HRC |
2.75 mm x 1.,250 mm x C |
Q23 5B |
Shanghai |
Ansteel |
3,950 |
589 |
↓10 |
Tianjin |
Tangshan Steel |
3,980 |
593 |
↑50 |
|||
Lecong |
Lianyuan Steel |
3,910 |
583 |
↑10 |
|||
Average |
- |
3,947 |
588 |
↑17 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.71