It is reported that Chinese steel export market has seen few activity recently and this is also the case with import market. Total Chinese steel export volume for January has dropped to 1.96 million tonnes which is mainly believed to be result of weak overseas demand. While HRC imports have also turned quiet on domestic price drop. Domestic hot rolled steel coil price continue its downward correction. On Shanghai market, commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC goes at CNY 3350 per tonne down by CNY 500 per tonne from February 6th. That for 4.75mm to 12mm*1800mm goes at CNY 3460 per tonne a drop of CNY 540 per tonne from the same period of this month. Most believe that the decrease is expected to spread into next month. Prevailing export quotation for commercial HRC is at USD 540 per tonne to USD 530 per tonne FOB as base, down from USD 560 per tonne to USD 600 per tonne in early February. There has been little transaction and price is negotiable as long as there is real order. Some traders mentioned that even USD 500 per tonne FOB for commodity grade HRC is workable at moment. At the same time, the number of HRC import contracts witness sharp decrease with the dive of Chinese domestic steel price. Sources say that transactions have already softened since middle January.
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