Benxi Steel plates Co., Ltd, one of the leading steelmakers in China, lowered its hot-rolled coil (HRC) offer for December shipments by about US$5/ton.

Based on statistics, HRC prices in China's domestic market were now still falling, and such a decline might affect the export prices.

Currently, most of the buyers on the market were now still remained a wait and see attitude, due to the mills from Russia and China preferred to cut their price to stimulate the orders.

On the other hand, Japanese mills were expecting the prices to rebound and considered raising the negotiated price in November.

As for HRC price fluctuation, the main core was how Indian and Korean mills reacted afterward. The HRC price in India rose by US$7/MT this week, coupled with the strong recovery of the coming demand season, and Indian mills turned to focus on the domestic market.

According to market news, POSCO Steel and Vietnamese mills had already offered lower prices than Russia and India. Although the Asian HRC market seemed to be recovered at present, POSCO Steel's aggressive bargaining competition might cause prices to fall further.