Exports of Chinese hot-dip galvanized coil in the week ended October 13 were a struggle, industry insiders admitted Tuesday, with the major producers content to just hold offers firm and harboring no intention of reducing their offers.
On October 15, mainstream offers of 1.0mm DX51D HDG were around $660-665/metric ton FOB Shanghai, Platts was told, though securing deals at the lower end of the price range was difficult, traders admitted. Platts assessed the tradable price for 1.0mm DX51D HDG at $650-655/mt, $5/mt lower than the previous assessment on September 30.
A major north Chinese mill chose to raise its offer price to $670/mt, sources said, up $5/mt from the end-September level. “The mill has possibly run out of coil or is short of stock, or it wouldn’t have opted to raise its offer prices given the current downturn,” a trader based in eastern China observed. “We’ve found it very difficult to get bookings in the past one week,” he told Platts.
Another trader in Shanghai commented that many mills were still holding back on tabling their quotes for coils to be delivered in December. A few mills had also sold batches of HDG ahead of the October 1-7 holiday at a “specially discounted price”, being bearish about market trends after the holidays, he noted.
This trader also indicated that currently Chinese coils do not enjoy any price advantage compared with Indian material and that trade restrictions in place in the USA had frozen considerable tonnages of HDG out of the country, softening conditions in other markets as a consequence.
Another Shanghai-based trader indicated that bookings for HDG were difficult as buyers in Southeast Asia and South America were waiting on the sidelines and in no rush to place orders.
