Ex-China CRC prices from big mills have moved sideways in the past week, though, according to sources, tradable prices have indicated some increases given the slight rises in HRC futures prices and solid support from rising iron ore prices.
At present, export offers for CRC given by major Chinese mills are at around $670-690/mt FOB on average, for March shipment, moving sideways on average from the previous week. Meanwhile, the tradable levels of ex-China CRC offer prices have been heard at $665-680/mt FOB, $660-680/mt FOB last week.
During the given week, CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved up amid increasing HRC futures prices. Inventory of CRC has been relatively low, providing support for prices. At the same time, iron ore futures prices have continued to increase following the New Year holiday (December 30-January 1), bolstering CRC prices to a certain degree. Currently, cautious sentiments prevail among downstream users and traders, while steelmakers have been willing to raise their CRC prices. It is thought that CRC prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge up slightly in the coming week.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 4,403/mt ($620/mt) ex-warehouse, increasing by RMB 16/mt ($2.3/mt) compared to December 27, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of January 3, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,160/mt ($586/mt), moving up by RMB 23/mt ($3.2/mt) since December 27, while rising by 0.63 percent compared to the previous trading day (January 2).
$1 = RMB 7.1002