China: Flat Product Prices continue to move down

Market's weak demand of Steel product is not letting Chinese traders to restore their trades.

From the end of July '13, the domestic HRC and H-Beam offers slumped by USD 5/MT (RMB 30/MT; USD1 = RMB 6.1332).

Whereas, CRC and HDG suppliers have maintained their on account of weak demand from their customers. CRC stocks with traders has increased by 1.8% to 1.63 MT.

It has been reported from market on conclusion of a deal in Shanghai province early this week for supply of 1 mm CRC of Q195 grade at USD 717-726/MT (RMB 4,400-4450 RMB/MT) ex-warehouse, which is down by USD 11-20/MT (RMB 70-120/MT) from initial offers (here and elsewhere 17% VAT included).

Also, it has been noted that a shipment of 1 mm galvanized coils with 80 g/sq m coating has concluded at USD 743/MT (RMB 4,560/MT) ex-warehouse, down on average by USD 8/MT from trader's offers.

Grade SS400 3-5 mm HR coils and grade Q235 300 mm H-beam is being sold at USD 595/MT(RMB 3,650/MT) and USD 620/MT (RMB 3,800/t) ex-warehouse respectively, which is in line with initial offers.

Owing to the slumping demand, downturn in domestic prices for CRC and galvanized flats is likely to be witnessed by Chinese traders.