The iron ore and coal prices kept increasing this week. Affected by this, steel mills might take the chance to hike prices in order to offset the high raw material costs.

Therefore, it is expected that the hot-rolled steel prices might go up further and have difficulty lowering. China's buyers purchased some quantity before the long national holidays. However, it still needs time to observe the price trend. Although the demand is not strong, the raw material cost can stabilize the price at this moment.