Chinese HRC prices edge down
2023-03-07 08:26:43 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 7 Mar 23 - The government announced the decision again to restrain prices of iron ore from rising abnormally late last week, and domestic HRC traders moved down prices discouraged by the price decline of iron ore on Monday. Presently, the mainstream prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C stand at RMB4,280/t (USD619/t), RMB4,260/t (USD616/t) and RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) D/P respectively in warehouses Tianjin, Shenyang and Guangzhou, down by RMB40/t (USD6/t), RMB40/t (USD6/t) and RMB20/t (USD3/t) compared with last Friday. Upon the watchful attitudes of traders, insiders predict stable prices of HRC in the coming several days.
"Prices of iron ore decreased by around RMB30/t (USD4/t) on Monday discouraged by the government's determination on restraining prices of iron ore from increasing abnormally, and the bullish market sentiments calmed down gradually. Therefore, we cut prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C to RMB4,300/t (USD622/t) and could accept RMB4,280/t (USD619/t) for orders of above 50t, while last sold nearly 500t at RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) last Friday," noted a trader in Tianjin. He did not receive any inquiries nor close any deals on Monday. According to him, most end users purchased enough materials last Friday when prices went up continuously. Besides, the sudden prices drop of both raw materials and HRC weakened downstream customers' purchasing activities to a large extent on Monday. Nevertheless, the trader does not plan to cut prices again supported by the positive anticipation for the market prospect and foresees flat prices of HRC in the following several days.
With the regular monthly sales volume of 10,000t, the trader estimates that the sales volume would reach 7,000t in March, up from 5,000t in February. He roughly sold 57,000t in 2022, holding around 10,000t in stock at present.
"We had to move down prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C to RMB4,270/t (USD618/t) with the concession of no more than RMB10/t (USD1.5/t) on Monday dragged by the price drop of iron ore," stated a trader in Shenyang, Liaoning. According to him, downstream clients tend to watch the market in view of the price decline on Monday after active purchase late last week, and they just sold 30t of the material at RMB4,260/t (USD616/t) on Monday, while last sold 300t at RMB4,300/t (USD622/t) last Friday. In the meantime, the trader pointed out that most deals were closed between traders and end users kept cautious about purchasing in the past one week, which meant the demand from downstream industries remained insufficient. However, considering that nearby steel mills would reduce delivery this month, the trader keeps not in a hurry to sell and believes local HRC prices would stabilize in the forthcoming several days.
Presently, the trader holds around 3,000t in inventory. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 5,200t, the trader might sell 6,000t in March, up from 4,000t in February. He recorded the total sales volume of approximately 62,000t in 2022.
"Discouraged by the government's determination of monitoring prices of iron ore, we moved down prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C to RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) without concession on Monday, while refused to sell at prices below RMB4,340/t (USD628/t) last Friday," disclosed a trader in Guangzhou. According to him, the demand from downstream industries keeps improving, but remains far from strong at the moment. Meanwhile, end users held back from purchasing facing the sudden price drop on Monday. "We last sold 1,800t of the material at RMB4,340/t (USD628/t) last Friday, but just sold 200t or so at RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) on Monday," added the trader. Supported by the positive expectation for the market prospect, the trader refuses to decrease prices further and deems prices of HRC might keep stable in the following several days.
Holding around 30,000t in stock, the trader might sell 13,000t in March, up from 10,000t in February. He roughly sold 116,000t in 2022.
"Prices of iron ore decreased by around RMB30/t (USD4/t) on Monday discouraged by the government's determination on restraining prices of iron ore from increasing abnormally, and the bullish market sentiments calmed down gradually. Therefore, we cut prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C to RMB4,300/t (USD622/t) and could accept RMB4,280/t (USD619/t) for orders of above 50t, while last sold nearly 500t at RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) last Friday," noted a trader in Tianjin. He did not receive any inquiries nor close any deals on Monday. According to him, most end users purchased enough materials last Friday when prices went up continuously. Besides, the sudden prices drop of both raw materials and HRC weakened downstream customers' purchasing activities to a large extent on Monday. Nevertheless, the trader does not plan to cut prices again supported by the positive anticipation for the market prospect and foresees flat prices of HRC in the following several days.
With the regular monthly sales volume of 10,000t, the trader estimates that the sales volume would reach 7,000t in March, up from 5,000t in February. He roughly sold 57,000t in 2022, holding around 10,000t in stock at present.
"We had to move down prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C to RMB4,270/t (USD618/t) with the concession of no more than RMB10/t (USD1.5/t) on Monday dragged by the price drop of iron ore," stated a trader in Shenyang, Liaoning. According to him, downstream clients tend to watch the market in view of the price decline on Monday after active purchase late last week, and they just sold 30t of the material at RMB4,260/t (USD616/t) on Monday, while last sold 300t at RMB4,300/t (USD622/t) last Friday. In the meantime, the trader pointed out that most deals were closed between traders and end users kept cautious about purchasing in the past one week, which meant the demand from downstream industries remained insufficient. However, considering that nearby steel mills would reduce delivery this month, the trader keeps not in a hurry to sell and believes local HRC prices would stabilize in the forthcoming several days.
Presently, the trader holds around 3,000t in inventory. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 5,200t, the trader might sell 6,000t in March, up from 4,000t in February. He recorded the total sales volume of approximately 62,000t in 2022.
"Discouraged by the government's determination of monitoring prices of iron ore, we moved down prices of HRC Q235B 5.75mm*1,500mm*C to RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) without concession on Monday, while refused to sell at prices below RMB4,340/t (USD628/t) last Friday," disclosed a trader in Guangzhou. According to him, the demand from downstream industries keeps improving, but remains far from strong at the moment. Meanwhile, end users held back from purchasing facing the sudden price drop on Monday. "We last sold 1,800t of the material at RMB4,340/t (USD628/t) last Friday, but just sold 200t or so at RMB4,320/t (USD625/t) on Monday," added the trader. Supported by the positive expectation for the market prospect, the trader refuses to decrease prices further and deems prices of HRC might keep stable in the following several days.
Holding around 30,000t in stock, the trader might sell 13,000t in March, up from 10,000t in February. He roughly sold 116,000t in 2022.
