Posted on 23 Oct 2025
Chinese export prices for commercial-grade hot-rolled coils (HRC) posted sharp falls during October 10-17, the first week after domestic steel mills and traders reopened for business following the National Day and Mid-autumn Festival holidays over October 1-8. Overseas buying of China-origin coils was subdued during the holidays with importers in major markets as South Korea and Vietnam enjoying their mid-autumn holidays around the same time and remained quiet afterwards amid reemerging US-China trade tensions, Mysteel's latest market roundup shows.
Earlier in the survey week, sentiment in China's steel market soured quickly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the imposition of an additional 100% tariff on all imports from China on October 10 in addition to existing duties. Trump's new trade assault on Beijing was in response to China's upgraded rare earth export control measures unveiled on October 9, as Mysteel Global reported.
For Chinese steel exporters, the unfavorable external trading environment and accumulating HRC stocks at domestic mills after the holiday prompted many to lower their overseas offers for coils, with some being as low as $466/tonne. Mainstream transaction prices at North China's Bayuquan port were at around $470/t FOB, the report notes.
By mid-week, softening domestic HRC futures on the Shanghai bourse and rising pressure from buyers bargaining for lower prices led offering prices for Chinese coils to soften as well, hitting a near 3-month low of $460/t FOB and approaching the mills' break-even point, many makers reported.
As of October 17, mainstream offering prices from Chinese mills were hovering around $460/t FOB, while some mills at Bayuquan port had firmed their offers to the $470 FOB level.
On the same day, Mysteel assessed the export price of SS400 3mm HRC from North China's Tianjin port at $460/t FOB, a large pullback from the pre-holiday level of $480/t FOB.
In Southeast Asia, import prices for HRC of the same grade and spec from China and elsewhere had also decreased, dropping by $10/t from before the holidays to $483/t CFR, according to Mysteel's tracking.
Malaysian hot coils bound for Vietnam remained at $515/t CFR Vietnam. Hot coil exports from Thailand to Europe to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026 were quoted at €570/t CFR Italy ($662/t), including the €50 CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) tax. Interest from buyers was said to be relatively low, however.
In Vietnam, one of the country's largest steelmakers, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, rolled over domestic HRC prices for November and December shipment, maintaining these at the equivalent of $522-532/tonne CFR Vietnam on October 15. Earlier on October 1, Vietnam's other major HRC maker, Hoa Phat Group, kept its hot coil prices unchanged for December and next January shipment at the equivalent of $527/t CFR Vietnam, Mysteel Global noted.
In South Korea, China HRC exports to the country in September totaled just 30,000 tons, down by a sharp 69% on year and by a steeper 73.2% on month, according to a recent report by local media. Behind the plummet was the fact that on September 23, the Korean government had imposed provisional AD duties as high as 33.1% on Chinese coils for four months, as reported.
In the Middle East, hot coil resources from Indian and Japanese steel mills were quoted in the UAE market at $520-530/t CFR, holding flat on week. Chinese coils stayed at $500-510/t CFR in the UAE. In the past week, buyers from there purchased some Japanese hot coils to be shipped in November at $515/t CFR. Meanwhile, sources noted that a steel mill in Taiwan had also sold a small quantity of HRC at $510/t CFR UAE.
In Saudi Arabia, offering prices for China-origin 1.2mm HRC stood at $530-540/t CFR, with no deals heard lately.
Meanwhile, on October 17, Mysteel assessed the export price for Chinese 1.0mm SPCC cold-rolled coil lower by $5/t on week at $531/t FOB from Tianjin port.
Source:Mysteel Global
