Chinese hot rolled steel coil price are in fluctuation this week. On Shanghai market, commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC goes at CNYB 3140 per tonne up by CNY 20 per tonne from last week. That for 4.75mm to 12mm*1800mm goes at CNY 3130 per tonne a decrease of CNY 30 per tonne.
Domestic HRC market keeps quiet with few transaction closed and the inventory on Shanghai market remains at a high level of 0.78437 million tonnes down by 9750 tonnes MoM. It is said that there will be another 50,000 tonnes cargos arriving at Shanghai next week. Steel traders believe the high inventory and soft demand are the main factors restraining price hike.
While, export market remains quite sluggish and the price prevails at, USD 470 per tonne to USD 480 per tonne FOB. There is nearly no transactions at present as Chinese export offer has lost its competitiveness in the global steel market. Some industry insiders believe the situation is not likely to be stabilized until Q3.
Some traders are just considering import HRC at the price of USD 370 per tonne to USD 380 per tonne CFR for the moment. However, they still dare not to import with a large amount volume due to the long time delivery time and the fast changeable price in domestic market even if they have signed an import agreement with overseas countries.