WEEKLY: China’s HRC stocks up further, prices soften

Prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in China’s physical market moved down during the January 11-15 week, with the price of Q235 4.75mm HRC price losing Yuan 101/tonne ($15.6/t) on week to reach Yuan 4,543/t including the 13% VAT as of January 15, according to Mysteel’s assessment.

Stocks of hot coils increased further too as the demand softened due to seasonal factors, market sources said, adding that demand from both construction sites and manufacturers would weaken further next week ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday over February 11-17. “Besides the falloff in HRC consumption, the freezing-up