It is reported that Chinese hot rolled steel coil prices increases slightly this week. The prices increase some CNY 50 per tonne from that of last Friday. Boosted by improved market confidence, traders have also become more enthusiastic about the market.
Insiders from mills are more prudent about the market outlook they said it is hard to predict how long the market uptrend would last. Insiders said the market in the coming weeks could keep weak as the real demand is still soft, and the HRC capacity utilization in May could reach 82.71% higher than the pervious expectation.
On Shanghai market, commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC goes at CNY 3350 per tonne up by CNY 50 per tonne from last week. That for 4.75mm to 12mm*1800mm goes at CNY 3380 per tonne an increase of CNY 30 per tonne to CNY 60 per tonne.
Taking Shanghai price for commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC as benchmark, price is expected to see continuous fluctuations if it can’t break the resistance of CNY 4000 per tonne. But price is likely to see more upward trend as demand from construction, auto and home appliance sectors have shown signs of warming up. But it still takes time to see the market''s overall recovery.
As for import and export, market remains sluggish this week even though the price has dropped. It''s said EU HR importers are likely to return to the market soon as international price is lower than that of domestic resources.