Posted on 14 Aug 2025
Chinese export prices for commercial-grade hot-rolled coils (HRC) rose slightly over August 2-8, while overseas buying for China-origin hot coils stayed thin, Mysteel's weekly market roundup shows.
As of August 8, the export price of SS400 3.0mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment had risen by $3/tonne on week to $475/t FOB from North China's Tianjin port, offsetting the $3/t dip logged in the previous week.
The on-week uptick in HRC export prices was mainly driven by a fresh round of coke price hikes materialized in the domestic market and news that some independent rolling mills in Tangshan city, North China's Hebei province, received orders to halt operations during August 25 - September 3.
With HRC prices gaining some strength in both domestic spot and futures markets last week, major mills in China also firmed their HRC export offers. Last Friday, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded HRC futures contract for October delivery closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,428/t, up by Yuan 20/t or 0.6% from its settlement price a week ago, the exchange's data showed.
By the same day, some Chinese mills were offering HRC for export at around $488/t FOB from North China's Jingtang port, while hot coils from mainstream mills at Bayuquan port were tradable at around $500/t FOB.
On the other hand, the higher HRC export offers dampened buyers' appetite, leading to few inquiries. Mainstream bidding prices were $10/t lower than offer levels, Mysteel Global noted.
In view of relatively brisk domestic sales, Chinese steelmakers were reluctant to make price concessions in the export market, a market insider noted.
In Vietnam, import prices for HRC generally remained stable, with the country's leading steelmaker Hoa Phat slightly raising its SAE1006/SS400 HRC offers for September shipment by $15/t on month to reach $514-515/t.
In the Middle East, import prices for coils including HRC and CRC mainly headed north in the past week with firmer global offering prices. Chinese HRC offers for the UAE market moved up to $520-540/t CFR. However, due to the still tepid actual demand, buyers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia mostly adopted a wait-and-see approach, keeping overall market activity subdued.
As of August 8, China's export price for 1.0mm SPCC cold-rolled coil dipped by $2/t on week to sit at $538/t FOB from North China's Tianjin port, Mysteel's assessment showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
