The changes will be made from the week of March 13 onwards, subject to market consultation.
Under the proposed changes, the assessments for Chinese export prices for carbon steel products – hot rolled coil, heavy plate, cold rolled coil, galvanized coil, rebar and wire rod – will be published on Tuesdays instead of Fridays.
The assessments for East Asian stainless flat steel prices will move to Wednesday from Friday, while those for Chinese domestic stainless flat steel will move to Thursday from Friday.
The changes will allow Metal Bulletin subscribers to follow the price movements from China earlier in the week, which should help them to better plan their trading strategies for the rest of the week.
The consultation period for these proposed changes will end on Friday March 10.
If the changes are implemented, the full specification for these price assessments will be as follows:
Assessment: China export hot rolled coil $ per tonne fob main port
Dimensions: Width 1,250-1,800mm, thickness 3-14mm
Quantity: 1,000-10,000 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Timing: 4-6 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Tuesday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality Q235B/SS400; contains at least 0.0008% boron to qualify for tax rebate of 9%, subtracted from 17% VAT
Assessment: China export heavy plate $ per tonne fob main port
Dimensions: Width 1,800-2,500mm, thickness 14-20mm
Quantity: 1,000-10,000 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Timing: 4-6 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Tuesday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality Q235B; contains at least 0.0008% boron to qualify for tax rebate of 13%, subtracted from 17% VAT
Assessment: China export cold rolled coil $ per tonne fob main port
Dimensions: Width 1,000-1,250mm, thickness 1-1.2mm
Quantity: 1,000-10,000 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Timing: 4-6 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Tuesday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality SPCC. Inclusive of 17% VAT
Assessment: China export hot dipped galvanized coil (1mm) $ per tonne fob main port
Dimensions: Width 1,000-1,500mm, thickness 0.5-2mm, 120g zinc
Quantity: 100-1,000 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Timing: 2-5 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Tuesday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality DX51D+Z80. Inclusive of 17% VAT
Assessment: China export rebar $ per tonne fob main port
Dimensions: Diameter 12-32mm
Quantity: 100-5,000 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Timing: 4-5 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Tuesday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality Grade III (HRB400); contains at least 0.0008% boron to qualify for tax rebate of 13%, subtracted from 17% VAT
Assessment: China export wire rod (mesh quality) $ per tonne fob main port
Dimensions: Diameter 6.5-8mm
Quantity: 60-1,000 tonnes
Location: FOB China
Timing: 4-5 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Tuesday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality Q235; contains at least 0.0008% boron to qualify for tax rebate of 9%, subtracted from 17% VAT
Assessment: Asia grade 304 stainless steel cold rolled coil (2mm 2B) $ per tonne cif East Asian port
Dimensions: Width 1,200-1,219mm, thickness 2mm
Quantity: 20-1,000 tonnes
Location: CIF East Asia (Hong Kong)
Timing: 3-8 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Wednesday, 10-11am London time
Assessment: Asia grade 304 stainless steel hot rolled sheet $ per tonne cif East Asian port
Dimensions: Width 1,500mm, thickness 4mm
Quantity: 20-1,000 tonnes
Location: CIF East Asia (Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Busan and Incheon in South Korea)
Timing: 3-8 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit on sight
Publication: Weekly. Wednesday, 10-11am London time
Assessment: China domestic grade 304 stainless steel cold rolled coil (2mm) CNY per tonne in-warehouse
Dimensions: Width 1,200-1,290mm, thickness 2mm
Quantity: 5-1,000 tonnes
Location: Ex-warehouse
Timing: Spot
Unit: RMB/tonne
Payment terms: Prompt payment upon delivery
Publication: Weekly. Thursday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality 304 2B. Inclusive of 17% VAT
Assessment: China domestic grade 430 2mm stainless steel cold rolled coil CNY per tonne in-warehouse
Dimensions: Width 1,200-1,219mm, thickness 2mm
Quantity: 5-1,000 tonnes
Location: In-warehouse
Timing: Spot
Unit: RMB/tonne
Payment terms: Prompt payment upon delivery
Publication: Weekly. Thursday, 10-11am London time
Notes: Quality 430 2B. Inclusive of 17% VAT
If you have any comments or queries about the proposed changes, or would like to contribute to these price assessments, please contact Jessica Zong at jessica.zong@metalbulletinasia.com and Gladdy Chu at gladdy.chu@metalbulletinasia.com.
If you have any questions about Metal Bulletin’s general pricing methodology and policy, please contact Metal Bulletin editor Alex Harrison at aharrison@metalbulletin.com or Asia steel editor Juan Weik at juan.weik@metalbulletinasia.com.
