Posted on 01 Mar 2023
China's hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices under Mysteel's assessment gained over February 20-27, in line with the rise in HRC futures prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). Trading activities in the spot market improved slightly compared with the previous week, a market insider said.
As of February 27, China's spot price of Q235 4.75mm HRC had increased by Yuan 50/tonne ($7.2/t) from February 20 to reach Yuan 4,336/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Many traders gained confidence and lifted their offering prices after noting the rise in HRC futures prices on the SHFE, a Shanghai-based analyst said.
The exchange's most-traded HRC contract for May delivery closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 4,277/t on February 27, higher by Yuan 29/t from the settlement price of February 20, according to the official data.
Over February 16-22, production of hot coils among the 37 Chinese steelmakers Mysteel regularly monitors stood at 3.1 million tonnes, down by 5,300 tonnes or 0.2% on week. During the same survey period, the sampled mills' hot rolling capacity also eased by 0.14 percentage point to 78.49%, Mysteel's data showed.
Many traders were active in selling off some stocks to secure profits during the survey period. However, the continuous rise in HRC prices cooled buying enthusiasm among end-users, with most procuring only to fulfill their immediate demand, he commented.
HRC stocks at trading houses across the 33 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking fell by 45,200 tonnes or 1.5% on week to 3 million tonnes as of February 23.
HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills dropped by 33,400 tonnes or 3.7% on week to 864,800 tonnes as of February 22. The decline in stocks was mainly because many mills had accelerated their delivery pace for hot coils, he added.
Source:Mysteel Global
