Posted on 05 May 2023
By the week of April 24-28, prices of Chinese hot-rolled coil (HRC) for export had slipped for four consecutive weeks, with the export price of SS400 4.75mm HRC at North China's Tianjin port as of April 28 declining by $15/tonne on week to $590/t FOB, according to Mysteel's tracking.
Also on April 28, the export price of SPCC 1.0mm cold-rolled coil had dropped by $22/t on week to settle at $663/t FOB, also from Tianjin port.
Market watchers noted that during the survey week, the price advantage enjoyed by China-origin hot coils in international markets led the number of inquiries from overseas buyers to rise.
For example, as of April 24 buyers from Southeast Asia were bidding for Chinese HRC (SAE 1006) at about $600/t CFR, while as of the same day, Japanese and South Korean steelmakers were offering their HRC at $630/t CFR to Southeast Asia, according to Mysteel's tracking.
During that week, Chinese steel traders and mills turned their attention to overseas markets for their coil, holding a generally bearish view of domestic steel-market conditions during last week with the Labour Day holidays about to begin. Many concluded more deals to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America compared with the previous week, sources added.
By April 28, both domestic spot and futures prices of HRC in China were still trending downward, dampening the market sentiment.
As of that day, the national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment had declined to nearly a five-month low of Yuan 4,006/t ($579/t) including the 13% VAT, dropping by Yuan 159/t on week.
The same day, the most-traded HRC contract for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,721/t, down by Yuan 196/t from the settlement price on April 21, according to the exchange's data.
Source:Kallanish
