Prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in China may not have room to move much higher because a further 31.05 million tonnes per year of capacity will come onstream in 2019, market sources in the country told Fastmarkets this week.
At least 13 HRC production lines were scheduled for start-up in 2019, and two of these started operations last month at the Hebei Zongheng Iron & Steel Group in northern China. These two new lines have combined capacity for 6.5 million tpy of HRC.Other production lines under construction are at mills including Hebei Jingye Steel & Iron, Fujian Dingsheng Iron & Steel and Hebei Donghai Special Steel Group."[The production lines] are expected to start operations soon, because their construction is almost complete," a trader in Hangzhou province said. "As a result, China's HRC prices aren't expected to move much higher in the days ahead."The price for HRC in eastern China has trended generally upward since the start of the year, with the year-to-date low being assessed on January 16 at 3,620-3,630 yuan per tonne.HRC prices in eastern China were 4,050-4,060 yuan ($601-602) per...