During the week ending July 16, hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued to move up, though traders are still cautious. Average HRC prices in the local Chinese market can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the summer season which is traditionally a period of slow activity, not much restocking has been observed in the Chinese HRC market. In the past week, the market has continued its upward movement of the previous week, on the back of producers' increased prices for August and also amid some reduction in pressure from the supply side. However, a number of negative factors also exist in the market. The low transaction activity has helped to limit the upward movement of HRC prices, while traders are somewhat pessimistic on the prospects for the market in the future and so they are showing less interest in placing orders from mills at the increased prices for August. As exports slow down, market players expect that supply pressure on the domestic HRC market will increase. It is thought that in the coming week Chinese domestic HRC prices will fluctuate within a narrow range.