Fluctuations in the export quotations of Chinese steel products are alternating between rises and falls, and the price of hot-rolled coils has seen a slight correction.
Weekly Review of the Steel Prices
Hot-rolled coil: This week, China's steel mills and traders saw a slight overall increase in hot-rolled coil prices, but overseas buyers showed insufficient follow-up. Supported by raw material prices, a certain northeast steel mill raised its SS400 hot-rolled coil listing price for the second consecutive week, from 565/tonFOBlastweekto570/ton FOB. In the first half of this week, traders' offers continued the downward trend of last week, with Tangshan's superior Q195 hot-rolled coil quotes falling from 535/tonCFRVietnamlastweekto525/ton CFR; another trader offered the same specification at 530/tonCFR,witha3/ton premium for 2.75mm and a 7/tonpremiumfor2.5mm,forJune−Julyshipment.Q235hot−rolledcoilquotesfellfrom545/ton CFR to 532/tonCFR,whileQ355hot−rolledcoilquotesfellfrom565/ton CFR to 545−546/tonCFR.Inthesecondhalf,boostedbymacroeconomicnewsandsupportedbyrawmaterialprices,traders′offersbegantorebound,withTangshan′ssuperiorQ195hot−rolledcoilquotesrisingto536/ton CFR. The same specification of 2.3mm hot-rolled coil had a 15/tonpremium,2.5mmhada7/ton premium, and 2.75mm had a 5/tonpremium;Q235hot−rolledcoilhada13/ton premium, and Q355 had a $20/ton premium, for June-July shipment.
Medium and heavy plate: This week, medium and heavy plate prices saw a slight decline, and trading conditions were not as good as for hot-rolled coils. A certain eastern China steel mill's SS400 medium plate listing price remained at 580/tonFOB.Itisunderstoodthatduetothedecentperformanceofdomesticdemand,thesteelmilliscurrentlyfocusedondomesticsales.MainstreamQ235B/SS400/S235JRmediumplatequotesfromtradersareaslowas540/ton FOB, with a $10/ton premium for A36 medium plate. According to market sources, the current overseas demand mainly comes from the shipbuilding industry in South Korea, wind turbines in the Middle East, and shipbuilding and bridge construction in South America.
Rebar and wire rod: This week, a steel mill quoted 540/tonFOB(theoreticalweight)forBS500Brebar,downabout15/ton week-on-week, and quoted 560−565/tonCFRforSingapore,withpricesholdingsteady.However,somemarketparticipantssaidthatthecurrentfocusofChina′ssteelexportofrebarisnotinSingapore.RegardingHongKongimports,althoughtherewerefluctuationsintheexchangeratebefore,thecurrentoverallpriceofimportedrebarinHongKongisstillbelow540/ton CFR (actual weight), unchanged from the beginning of the month, and some importers said they are only considering orders for July. It was heard at the beginning of the week that Malaysian steel quoted 545/tonCFRforHongKong.Forwirerod,thecurrentexportpriceisaround540-555/ton FOB, unchanged week-on-week. It was heard that there were small orders transacted at 540/tonFOB,andthecurrentcounterofferpricefromoverseasbuyersisaround530-535/ton FOB, which is higher than before, but some steel mills still said they were unwilling to compete at low prices and claimed that the number of recent overseas orders has decreased.
Billet: This week, China's 3sp billet price was quoted at around 500/tonFOB,upnarrowlybyabout5/ton week-on-week, but it still has a certain price advantage in the overseas market. However, it has been recently heard that there is less transaction information, and there is news of 5sp 150*150 billet exported to the Philippines at 516−517/tonCFR.Ontheimportside,itisunderstoodthataTaiwanesebuyercounterofferedRussian3spbilletat500-505/ton CFR, but no transaction has been heard yet.
