During the week ending April 5, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated a rising trend, while transaction activity in the overall market is at decent levels. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, producers have increased their HRC offer prices in the Chinese domestic market, while downstream users as well as most medium and small traders have been reluctant to accept the price rises and to make purchases due to the recent strong fluctuations in the HRC spot and futures markets. During the month of March, HRC prices indicated significant rises, which caused some buyers to buy earlier than planned, and this will likely result in a negative impact on the local HRC market in April. However, HRC inventories on the steelmakers’ side are at low levels, which will likely provide a certain degree of support for HRC prices. It is thought that HRC prices will follow a fluctuating trend or indicate a slight downtrend in the coming week.
| Product Name | Spec. | Category | 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 | Tangshan Steel | 2,520 | 389 | ↑80 |
| Tianjin | Tangshan Steel | 2,620 | 404 | ↑150 | |||
| Lecong | Liuzhou Steel | 2,540 | 392 | ↑40 | |||
| Average | - | 2,560 | 395 | ↑90 | |||
| Thin HRC | 2.75 mm x 1.,250 mm x C | Q235B | Shanghai | Tangshan Steel | 2,630 | 406 | ↑90 |
| Tianjin | Tangshan Steel | 2,680 | 414 | ↑60 | |||
| Lecong | Lianyuan Steel | 2,660 | 410 | ↑60 | |||
| Average | - | 2,657 | 410 | ↑70 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.48