During the past week, domestic HRC prices initially moved up but then started to decline, reflecting the fluctuations seen in iron ore futures prices. In April, China's finished steel export volume indicated a month-on-month rise of 10.9 percent and a year-on-year rise of 13.3 percent, with this good news on the export side helping to ease supply pressures in the domestic finished steel market. Meanwhile, it seems that iron ore prices may have already bottomed out and may move at around $60/mt in the future, providing support for HRC prices from the cost side. Furthermore, China's central bank has cut benchmark interest rates effective as of May 11, which is expected to stimulate downstream demand. It is thought that HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will just indicate slight fluctuations in the coming week.
Product Name |
Spec. |
Category |
City |
Steel Plant/Origin |
Price (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly Change (RMB/mt) |
Medium HRC |
5.75 mm x 1,500 mm x C |
Q235B/SS400 |
Shanghai |
Tangshan Steel |
2,440 |
393 |
↑20 |
Tianjin |
Tangshan Steel |
2,480 |
399 |
↓70 |
|||
Lecong |
Liuzhou Steel |
2,540 |
409 |
↓30 |
|||
Average |
- |
2,487 |
400 |
↓27 |
|||
Thin HRC |
2.75 mm x 1.,250 mm x C |
Q235B |
Shanghai |
Tangshan Steel |
2,520 |
406 |
↑30 |
Tianjin |
Tangshan Steel |
2,640 |
425 |
↓10 |
|||
Lecong |
Lianyuan Steel |
2,610 |
420 |
↓20 |
|||
Average |
- |
2,590 |
417 |
0 |
17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.21