Since January, the market prices of hot and cold rolled coils have fallen slightly, market transactions have been thin, and merchants have not shipped smoothly. They are generally cautious about the market outlook. On January 14, Li Zhongshuang, general manager of Shanghai Ruikun Metal Materials Co., Ltd., said in an interview with a reporter from China Metallurgical News that the market price of cold and hot rolled coils is unlikely to rebound sharply in the short term and is expected to fluctuate slightly.

According to Li Zhongshuang, during this period, steel traders were not willing to purchase. In order to lock in profits, most of them chose the bargaining sales method and exchanged price for quantity. Regarding the trend of the cold and hot rolled coil market in the later period, Li Zhongshuang believes that the cold and hot rolled coil market will not see much improvement in the short term. At the same time, Li Zhongshuang reminded market participants to pay attention to the following factors that affect market trends:

One is the change in downstream demand. At the beginning of the new year, downstream industries, such as automobiles and home appliances, which consume a large amount of sheet metal, have considerable production and sales, and demand for cold and hot rolled coils is still strong. To a certain extent, this has curbed the market price of hot and cold rolled coils from falling. It is understood that the current downstream end users have a higher acceptance of cold-rolled coils with prices ranging from RMB 5,500/ton to RMB 5,600/ton.

The second is the change in market supply. At present, the increase in the inventory of cold and hot rolled coils is not obvious, the spot resources owned by traders are not sufficient, and some mainstream products are even out of stock. However, before the Spring Festival, steel companies generally enter the maintenance period, which will inhibit the increase in output to a certain extent. For example, some steel companies will overhaul electric furnaces from January 28 to February 6, which is expected to affect steel production output of 25,000 tons; some steel companies will overhaul a 3,200 cubic meter blast furnace for 33 days in January , It is expected to affect the average daily molten iron output about 75 thousand tons. Steel enterprises entering the maintenance period will have a certain impact on market supply.

The third is the change in the production cost of steel enterprises. Recently, the prices of iron ore, scrap steel, coke and other steel raw materials and fuels have continued to rise. In order to alleviate the cost pressure, steel companies have chosen to increase the ex-factory price of steel. A few days ago, some large steel companies announced the ex-factory price of steel plates in February this year. Some steel companies raised the base price of hot-rolled coils by 350 yuan/ton, and some steel companies raised the base price of cold-rolled coils by 400 yuan/ton. Supported by rigid costs, steel companies have substantially increased their ex-factory prices, which will, to a certain extent, curb the subsequent decline in the market price of cold and hot rolled coils.

Fourth is the change of the epidemic situation in some parts of our country. At present, the new crown pneumonia epidemic situation in Hebei Province is tense. There are still dozens of new confirmed cases every day, and the number of new confirmed cases in Heilongjiang Province, Shaanxi Province and other places is also increasing. Under the influence of the epidemic, the transportation links of Hebei steel enterprises were affected. Li Zhongshuang said that if the epidemic cannot be effectively controlled in the short term, it may cause the regional steel market to enter a volatile market.