Asian hot-rolled coil prices were unchanged April 3 amid steady fundamentals and rangebound offers and bids.

The most actively-traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 3,659/mt April 3, down Yuan 29/mt or 0.8% day on day.

Platts assessed the spot price of Q235B 5.75 mm HRC in Shanghai down Yuan 10/mt day on day at Yuan 3,740/mt ($517/mt) ex-stock Shanghai April 3, including value added tax.

“Oversea buyers’ confidence is insufficient, so when market goes weak they retreat from inquiring, leaving the domestic sales sluggish as well,” said a northern China-based mill source.

An active mill’s export offer was at $530/mt FOB Jingtang, but even with a $10-$15/mt drop in the afternoon, “nobody wants to buy in this market situation,” said an eastern China-based trader April 3.

Platts assessed SS400 HRC of 3 mm thickness unchanged day on day at $512/mt FOB China April 3. The same grade of coil was assessed unchanged at $511/mt CFR Southeast Asia over the same period.

Among export markets, demand from Pakistan was heard to be stronger than other regions, but due to credit crunch, it usually took longer for buyers there to issue letters of credit, according to several sources.

“The market has dropped drastically since January. I’m facing some problems recently with canceled shipments by Pakistani buyers. Prices have fallen at least by $30/mt since booking,” said a northern China-based trader.