Following the Chinese government's announcement last week of an increased export rebate for certain steel products, export quotations for Chinese cold rolled coils have registered a minor reduction, while HR export prices have generally remained unchanged. Meanwhile, a certain degree of confusion has been observed as regards quotations for imports of flat products into China over the past week, with import prices of CIS origin hot rolled materials rising by $5-10/mt, and quotations for hot rolled coils from South Korea declining by $10-20/mt.
On the export side, Chinese traders are currently offering 1.0 mm SPCC cold rolled coils at $540-550/mt FOB, down $30/mt week on week; meanwhile, HRC export quotations remain constant in the range of $430-500/mt FOB.
On the import side, CIS origin hot rolled products are being offered at $390/mt CFR China's major ports, up $5-10/mt week on week, with import quotations of ex-CIS CRC up by $10-20/mt to $450-460/mt CFR China's major ports. In addition, hot rolled quotations from leading South Korean producers are around $400/mt CFR main ports, a decline of $10-20/mt compared with the previous week.
Due to the recent active inquiries and positive levels of commercial activity for CIS materials for May and June, flat rolled quotations from the CIS to China have registered a certain increase. Moreover, the weakening of the US dollar has also contributed to a certain extent to the rise in ex-CIS export quotations.
In addition, according to China's latest export rebate adjustment, the rebate rate for HRC remains at zero, while that for CRC has been increased from five percent to 13 percent. However, even after the adjustment, Chinese flat rolled prices remain higher than the international market levels, while global demand continues to be sluggish. In this context, the market's response to the increased export rebate has been somewhat lackluster.