Over the past week, demand in China's domestic HRC market has become more sluggish and transaction activity has been quiet as downstream users have started to leave the market ahead of the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year holiday. However, traders are reluctant to cut their prices in order to boost sales volumes, as they hold an optimistic view of the prospects for the market after the holiday supported by domestic mills' recent upward price adjustments. On the back of this optimism, the local HRC market has witnessed an overall upward trend over the past week.
Players in China's HRC market do not expect any big improvement in transaction activity as the holiday period draws closer. It is thought that traders will keep their domestic HRC offers unchanged in the coming week, while they look forward to a bullish trend after the Spring Festival holiday.