In the Chinese pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) market, while prices of thick specifications have remained neutral during the past week, prices of thin specifications have moved up slightly. As of July 23, average PPGI prices in the main Chinese cities are listed below:
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
PPGI |
0.476 mm x 1,000 mm |
CGCC |
6,173 |
- |
912 |
- |
PPGI |
0.426 mm x 1,000 mm |
CGCC |
6,817 |
+17 |
1,007 |
+2 |
At present, CGCC 0.476 mm x 1,000 mm PPGI is sold in the Shanghai, Guangzhou and Boxing markets at RMB 6,150/mt ($908/mt), RMB 6,550/mt ($968/mt) and RMB 5,820/mt ($860/mt) respectively. At the same time, CGCC 0.426 mm x 1,000 mm prices stand at RMB 6,300/mt ($931/mt), RMB 6,600/mt ($975/mt) and RMB 7,550/mt ($1,115/mt) in the above respective markets.
While significant increases have been observed in other steel product markets in China, the domestic PPGI market has not shown any noticeable fluctuation, with only some slight upticks seen, especially for thin specifications. During the past week, some producers have increased PPGI prices by RMB 50/mt ($7/mt) and have still received some orders from buyers. Many market players have stopped giving offers in anticipation of further price increases.
Currently, the gap between PPGI and hot dip galvanized (HDG) steel prices is narrowing due to the strong performance of galvanized steel prices and the moderate increase of PPGI prices. The next step of China's domestic PPGI market will largely depend on whether local galvanized steel prices will go up further or dip down in the near future. The most common view in the domestic market is that PPGI prices will at least climb up further by a small margin in the coming period.