Chinese HRC prices rally on Sino-US trade deal
Published by:Zihuan Pan<>
12 May 2025 @ 11:09 UTC

Chinese steel hot-rolled coil prices moved higher on Monday May 12, buoyed by the trade deal reached between the US and China, sources told Fastmarkets. Over the weekend, both countries alluded to a positive conclusion of the high-stakes trade talks in Switzerland, with US officials touting a deal to reduce its trade deficit, while Chinese leaders said that they have arrived at an important consensus.
On Monday afternoon, the two sides announced that they had agreed to temporarily suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods in a move that shows a major thawing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The trade agreement means that reciprocal tariffs between both countries will be cut from 125% to 10%. The US 20% duties on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl will remain in place, meaning total tariffs on China stand at 30%.
Domestic Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel HRC domestic, ex-whs Eastern China was at 3,260-3,280 yuan ($452-455) per tonne on Monday, up by 30-40 yuan per tonne from 3,230-3,240 yuan per tonne on Friday May 9.
Spot HRC trading in the domestic market did not improve significantly from last week following the price rally, traders said.
Export Fastmarkets calculated its steel HRC index export, fob main port China at $458 per tonne on Monday, up by $8 per tonne from $450 per tonne on Friday.
The trade deal-sparked market rally encouraged Chinese mills to raise their HRC export offers on Monday, sources said.
Small, privately-owned mills offered their HRC exports at $455-460 per tonne FOB China for 3.0-3.5 mm thick, 1,250-1,500 mm wide SS400/Q235-grade HRC on Monday, up from $450-457 per tonne FOB on Friday.
Larger, state-owned mills have yet to update their offers for the new week. Market participants’ estimates of the best HRC export offers from these mills were $465-485 per tonne at base prices last week amid poor bookings.
Trading for Chinese HRC exports remained muted on Monday given the great volatility in Shanghai futures prices for the flat steel product, sources said.
Green steel Fastmarkets’ assessment of flat steel reduced carbon emissions, daily inferred, exw China was 3,260-3,830 yuan per tonne on Monday, up by 30-40 yuan per tonne from 3,230-3,790 yuan per tonne on Friday.
This was assessed based on Fastmarkets’ fortnightly price assessment of flat steel reduced carbon emissions differential, exw China, which calculates the premium for flat-rolled reduced carbon emissions steel over products produced from the traditional blast furnace-based route and came in at 0-550 yuan per tonne on Friday May 9.
Market chatter It’s hard to tell how much more upside the [Chinese steel] prices can see following the US-China trade deal. But at least, the downside room in prices would be limited, a trader in northern China said.
Shanghai Futures Exchange The most-traded SHFE October HRC futures contract closed at 3,220 yuan per tonne on Monday, up by 63 yuan per tonne from last Friday’s close of 3,157 yuan per tonne.