Affected by the sluggish market buying sentiment and falling raw material prices, the price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained weak after the Lunar New Year. However, the buying of China’s HRC has been slow recently, while the price of HRC from Asian steel mills has strengthened, such as PT Dexin Steel Indonesia, Vietnamese Hoa Phat Steel, Japanese JFE Steel, and South Korean Hyundai Steel.

Therefore, China Steel Corp.(CSC) is expected to increase its April rate, and more and more downstream manufacturers are rushing to replenish before the new price announcement.

Some market participants believe that some imported HRC prices may drop again after CSC’s new rate. However, the most important of all, the current imbalance between supply and demand has been alleviated, and there is even a shortage of materials in some sizes. In addition, the circulation price now is almost at the edge of cost, and the circulation price of HRC should continue to rise in the future.

Source: YIEH