During the week ending July 3, the Chinese domestic cold rolled coil (CRC) market has varied between a very slight downtrend and stability. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
Recently, demand from downstream sectors for cold rolled coil products has been slow due to a lack of liquidity and so shipments of these products have been at very low levels.
In the short term, unfavorable factors are likely to hinder the recovery of domestic CRC prices. On the one hand, in consideration of the good performance observed in the export market, not many leading producers are planning overhauls in the short run. According to the data released by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in May this year Chinese CRC output exceeded 5.8 million mt, resulting in increased supply pressure on the market. On the other hand, in the traditional slow season in June and July for downstream industries such as white goods, CRC consumption is very slow. Accordingly, the increased supply volume is accompanied by a lack of demand, and this supply and demand dynamic is not expected to change in the short term.
It is thought that in the coming week domestic CRC prices will follow a soft trend.