Posted on 15 Mar 2023
Chinese prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) under Mysteel's assessment posted gains over March 6-13, and demand from end-users also strengthened compared with the previous week, a market insider said.
As of March 13, the spot price of Q235 4.75mm HRC was higher by Yuan 99/tonne ($14.4/t) from March 6 at Yuan 4,483/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Many traders 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 4,459/t on March 13, up by Yuan 132/t from the settlement price of March 6, according to the official data.
Over March 2-8, production of hot coils among the 37 Chinese steelmakers Mysteel tracks reached 3 million tonnes, down by 2.1% on week. During the same survey period, hot-rolling capacity usage among the sampled mills also declined by 1.64 percentage points on week to average 77.14%, Mysteel's data showed.
During the week, some mills in North China and Northeast China conducted maintenance work, leading to the decline in output, he added.
With HRC prices strengthening, many end-users were active in buying hot coils amid China's usually robust period for steel consumption in early spring. Besides, many traders held off selling hot coils in anticipation of prices climbing further, also reflecting optimistic sentiment in the market, he commented.
The continuous decline in HRC stocks also lent some support to prices. HRC stocks at trading houses across the 33 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking fell by 155,400 tonnes or 5.4% on week to 2.7 million tonnes as of March 9.
In parallel, HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills eased for the sixth week by another 1,000 tonnes or 0.1% on week to 844,800 tonnes as of March 8.
Source:Mysteel Global
