China’s CRC export prices unchanged at $570 per tonne fob

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Prevailing export prices for CRC remained the same as last week’s price of $570 per tonne fob.

“Chinese steelmakers declined to sell CRC for any price lower than $570 per tonne fob,” a trader in Shanghai said.

He added that it would be meaningless to lower prices to try to entice customers since transactions remained low.

“We are not prepared to export CRC at lower prices. As it is, we are already incurring huge losses,” a sales director with a major north China-based steelmaker said.

Some producers are losing as much as 300 yuan per tonne of CRC sold at the current price, an exporter in Beijing said.

Anshan Steel made a 1.997 billion yuan ($315 million) loss during the first half of 2012. Anyang Steel, another major producer in north China, lost 1.45 billion yuan during the same period.

Producers are unlikely to accept too low a price, especially when it would result in heavier losses than sales on the domestic market.

China’s domestic CRC prices dipped further on Tuesday.

In Shanghai, 1.0mm-thick CRC changed hands at 4,230-4,430 yuan per tonne, down 40-70 yuan per tonne from a week earlier.