During the week ending August 30, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated an upward movement, while transaction activity in the overall market has been at decent levels. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the first part of the given week, supplies have been short in the market since some major traders sealed up their inventories, boosting the positive sentiment in the HRC market. While towards the latter part of the week, HRC prices have seen some slight downward corrections due to decreases in HRC futures prices. At present most major domestic steelmakers plan to carry out maintenance work on their HRC production lines in September, which will reduce supply of HRC in the coming month and provide a certain degree of support as regards the prospects for the domestic HRC prices. It is thought that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways 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 | 2,840 | 425 | ↑20 |
| Tianjin | Tangshan Steel | 2,870 | 430 | ↑20 | |||
| Lecong | Liuzhou Steel | 2,940 | 440 | ↓20 | |||
| Average | - | 2,883 | 432 | ↑6 | |||
| Thin HRC | 2.75 mm x 1.,250 mm x C | Q235B | Shanghai | Tangshan Steel | 2,980 | 446 | ↑200 |
| Tianjin | Tangshan Steel | 2,930 | 439 | ↑30 | |||
| Lecong | Lianyuan Steel | 3,030 | 454 | ↓30 | |||
| Average | - | 2,980 | 446 | ↑76 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.68