Posted on 07 Mar 2023
Chinese prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) under Mysteel's assessment increased during February 24-March 3, and trading activities in the spot sales market also improved, a market insider said.
As of March 3, the spot price of Q235 4.75mm HRC had strengthened by Yuan 57/tonne ($8.2/t) from February 24 to reach Yuan 4,394/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Many traders grew more confident about market conditions and lifted their offering prices after noting the rise in HRC futures prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), a Shanghai-based analyst said.
The most-traded HRC contract on the SHFE for May delivery closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 4,371/t on March 3, up by Yuan 87/t from the settlement price of February 24, according to the official data.
Over February 23-March 2, production of hot coils among the 37 Chinese steelmakers Mysteel monitors reached 3.1 million tonnes, down by 11,200 tonnes or 0.4% on week. During the same survey period, the sampled mills' hot-rolling capacity also slipped by 0.29 percentage point to 78.78%, Mysteel's data showed.
Some mills in Northwest China resumed normal production after maintenance stoppages, leading to the rise in output, the Shanghai source added.
The stronger HRC prices helped to buoy market sentiment, encouraging many end-users to become more active in buying hot coils compared with the previous week, he commented. Coil stocks at the commercial warehouses are seen dropping in the near term due to the better demand from end-users, another factor lending some support to prices.
HRC stocks at trading houses across the 33 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking fell by 110,400 tonnes or 3.7% on week to 2.9 million tonnes as of March 2.
In parallel, HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills slipped for the fifth week by another 19,000 tonnes or 2.2% on week to 845,800 tonnes as of March 1.
Source:Mysteel Global
