Between January and March this year, China's hot rolled coil (HRC) production totaled 52.91 million tonnes, down 8.0% year on year, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). During the same period, China's cold rolled coil (CRC) output was 12.326 million tons, up 4.1 percent from the previous year.
In March alone, China's hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) output was 18.851 million tons and 4.824 million tons, down 6.9 percent. and increasing 3.3% year-on-year respectively.
HRC prices in China's domestic market fluctuated within a limited range between January and February, while they declined in early March and then recovered in late March due to improved demand after the Chinese New Year holiday. HRC prices peaked at 3,390 yuan/t ($494/t) on March 24-26 and March 31, and the lowest level in the first quarter was 3,300 yuan/t ($481/t) on February 25, according to SteelOrbis data.
