China's export HRC market quiet during holiday

China's export market for hot-rolled coil (HRC) was generally quiet over September 29-October 6 for the country's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, with export prices of Chinese HRC dipping slightly and transactions of the flat product being sparse, Mysteel observed.

As of October 7, the export price of Chinese SS400 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment came in at $535/tonne FOB from North China's Tianjin port, down by $5/t from September 28, while that of SPCC 1.0mm cold-rolled coil eased by a smaller $2/t during the same period to sit at $631/t, also on FOB Tianjin basis.

In fact, no improvement has been seen in weak demand for hot coils among many overseas buyers with the absence of China, and most of them chose to see what happens after the Chinese holidays, Mysteel noted.

In Vietnam, dull demand for hot coils led the country's steel giant Hoa Phat to cut its prices for domestic HRC sales by VND 240/kg ($9.8/t) on month to VND 13,950/kg CFR Ho Chi Minh City for November delivery earlier this week, according to market sources.

Besides, the recent depreciation of Vietnamese dong against US dollar also dampened import activities of local market participants, sources added.

In parallel, sentiment was also tepid in the Indian hot coils market due to local public holidays and a wait-and-see mood among buyers there, Mysteel pointed out.

Mysteel has heard of one agreement of Chinese HRC reached in India during the Chinese holidays, with the export price settled at $585/t CFR for December shipment.

Meanwhile, trading activity for import hot coils also cooled in the Middle East, Mysteel Global noted, with most buyers there waiting for Chinese supply to return after the country's long holiday break.

Written by Carly Chen, chenziyi@mysteel.com
Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.