Asian cold-rolled coil prices held steady in the week ended March 25 on slow buying and firm offers.

Platts assessed the SPCC-grade 1 mm thick CRC at $542/mt FOB China on March 25, unchanged week over week.

Export offers stood at $550-$580/mt FOB China and remained unchanged week over week. Tradable levels were heard at $542- $545/mt FOB China, though no bids were reported.

“There’s still demand out there, but buying activity has definitely slowed down,” a northern China-based mill source added.

Despite some market rumors about production cuts in China, market participants were still wary about implementing production controls.

“The market is all depending upon the magnitude of production cuts. It’s hard to say how long the prices would be able to hold at the current levels,” said a second northern Chinese mill source.

Platts assessed the same CRC grade at Yuan 4,030/mt ($555/mt) ex-stock on March 25, including value-added tax, in the Shanghai dealers’ market, unchanged week over week.

The spread between CRC and SAE1006 grade hot-rolled coil export prices remained unchanged at $58/mt for the week, largely due to HRC prices moving sideways.