This week, Chinese domestic hot rolled steel coil prices have started to rise again after the slight decrease prior to the Dragon Boat Festival. The average price of 3.0mm HRC in major Chinese cities posted at CNY 3659 per tonne up by CNY 21 per tonne from that of last Thursday.
There were several steel mills hiked their ex-work price this week, Jiangsu based Shagang hiked the price by CNY 220 per tonne. But Shanghai based Baosteel has postponed to release its July ex work price on June 10th which indicates the market outlook is difficult to predict.
On Shanghai market, the price of HRC increases slightly after the Dragon Boat Festival, but market becomes more fluctuated in the late of this week. The price of commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC goes at CNY 3450 per tonne down by CNY 50 per tonne from last week. That of 4.75mm to 12mm*1800mm goes at CNY 3480 per tonne up CNY 40 per tonne from that of last week.
As for import and export, the market has seen more activities than the previous week. Offer to South Korea for July delivery posts at USD 450 per tonne to USD 470 per tonne, CFR. Insiders said the price would see further increase as international market has started to show signs of warming up. At the meanwhile, China’s HRC import also keeps rising recently as mills are looking for cheaper HRC for re-rolling into CRC.