Chinese steelmakers are rushing to export their products due to stagnant domestic demand caused by downstream industries struggling to return to work amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China.
Hebei-based Anfeng Iron & Steel, a mill that had previously focused heavily on domestic sales, exported tens of thousand tonnes of hot-rolled coil in early February, a Shanghai-based trader said."It has to do so. Its inventories were mounting amid sparse domestic sales," he said.Anfeng Iron & Steel has sold HRC to Vietnam at $455-465 per tonne cfr, which is equivalent to about $443-455 per tonne fob China, according to sources.They said these had disrupted the market, since other major Chinese steelmakers were offering their products at $495-505 per tonne during the period."It was reasonable for other major mills to keep their offers at $495-505 per tonne fob since overseas buyers were trying hard to get Chinese HRC by bidding at $500 per tonne fob," a Beijing-based trader said.But it turned out that Anfeng Steel had started a trend. A week later, another major steel mill, Benxi Iron & Steel, lowered...