Posted on 08 May 2023
Shagang Group (Shagang), China's leading privately-owned steel producer headquartered in East China's Jiangsu, is slashing its list prices of hot-rolled coils by Yuan 300/tonne ($43.4/t) for May sales, the mill announced to dealers on May 1. The latest price adjustment was made followed by the mill's roll-over on HRC prices for April sales, Mysteel Global noted.
Shagang's HRC list prices, which the steel giant releases every month, are viewed as a bellwether of flat steel market sentiment, Mysteel Global notes. Shagang is the major Chinese steel producer to publicly announce such prices on a regular basis. Competing mills such as Baosteel only reveal price-change increments.
The mill's Yuan 300/t cut sent the list price of its Q235 5.5mm HRC to Yuan 4,300/t for May sales and that of SPHC 4.0mm HRC to Yuan 4,310/t, according to the announcement. The prices listed above are in terms of EXW and including the 13% VAT, Mysteel Global notes.
Shagang seems to keep tracking the downward trend of domestic hot coil prices, a Shanghai-based analyst said. Mysteel's latest survey assessed China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC at Yuan 4,006/t including the 13% VAT as of April 28, or down by a hefty Yuan 417/t from March 31.
Sluggish demand from end-users and falling prices of raw materials failed to support steel prices, the analyst added.
The spot trading volume of HRC among Chinese 202 trading houses Mysteel tracks was assessed at 29,472 tonnes/day on average during April, lower by 6,850 t/d on month.
As of May 2, Mysteel's SEADEX 62% Australian Fines stood at $104.75/dmt CFR Qingdao, falling by $17.7/dmt from April 3.
Source:Mysteel Global
