HRC Prices to Gain Cost Support

SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) - HRC prices in mainstream Chinese cities dropped yesterday. The quotation in Shanghai was around 4,330-4,340 yuan/mt and rose slightly in the afternoon.

The current terminal demand is still recovering, but according to the apparent demand last week, the recovery slowed down palpably. The demand will rebound slowly in the near future. On the macro front, the government work report proposes a GDP growth of about 5%, emphasising the recovery and expansion of consumption, and encouraging the development of automobiles, home appliances and infrastructure sectors. The market shall pay close attention to the news released by the Two Sessions. The fundamentals will support the iron ore and coke prices, which further beefs up the HRC prices. At present, the contradiction between supply and demand of HRC is not prominent, and the market still needs to pay attention to the macro policies which are going to be introduced by the Two Sessions.