During the week ending April 18, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated a significant downtrend, while transaction activity in the overall market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, players in the local HRC market have mostly been maintaining a wait-and-see stance, thereby contributing to the slackness of transaction activity. Meanwhile, inventories of HRC are still at relatively high levels, exerting negative pressure on domestic HRC prices. Amid the prevailing weak sentiment, it is thought that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move down further in the coming week.
| Product Name | Spec. | Quality | 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 | Ansteel | 2,960 | 430 | ↓230 |
| Tianjin | Ansteel | 2,890 | 420 | ↓230 | |||
| Lecong | Liuzhou Steel | 3,030 | 440 | ↓300 | |||
| Average | - | 2,960 | 430 | ↓253 | |||
| Thin HRC | 2.75 mm x 1.,250 mm x C | Q235B | Shanghai | Ansteel | 3,130 | 455 | ↓170 |
| Tianjin | Tangshan Steel | 2,990 | 435 | ↓230 | |||
| Lecong | Lianyuan Steel | 3,100 | 451 | ↓320 | |||
| Average | - | 3,073 | 447 | ↓240 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.88