During the week ending March 8, average prices of pre-painted galvanized iron (PPGI) in the Chinese domestic market have moved on a downtrend, though transaction activity in the domestic market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average PPGI prices in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
Offer prices of ex-China PPGI have been heard between $670-730/mt, moving down by $10/mt on the low end compared to that recorded on March 1.
|
Specification (mm) |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
|
0.476 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,633 |
-43 |
793 |
-6 |
|
0.426 x 1,000 |
CGCC |
5,693 |
-43 |
802 |
-6 |
13 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
During the given week, PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market indicated further declines amid the weak support from raw materials. Demand from downstream users improved slowly, which was much slower than market players had expected, exerting a negative impact on PPGI market. At the same time, HRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have seen decreases, also negatively affecting PPGI prices. Moreover, PPGI producers’ capacity utilization rates increased further, which will likely result in rising supplies to the market. It is expected that PPGI prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge down further in the coming week as inventory has been at relatively high levels.
As of March 8, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,841/mt ($541/mt), decreasing by RMB 44/mt ($6.2/mt) or 1.1 percent since March 1, while down 0.44 percent compared to the previous trading day, March 7.
$1 = RMB 7.0978