The price difference between mainstream areas of galvanized coil

East China and South China, as two of the three major areas of galvanized coil，have slightly different division of labor and responsibilities. Taking Shanghai as an example in East China, it is more of a gathering place for steel mills to invest resources. With the increasing concentration of downstream industries in neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the real digestion of resources in Shanghai also relies on the surrounding markets. The South China market has always been a consumer market, and it is basically a resource inflow area, especially the resources in East China and North China. Most of the resources are sent to South China by water transportation. Whether in terms of geographical location or resource consumption, the price in South China should have been at the highest level among the three mainstream regions, but it can be seen from Figure 1 that from mid-late June to early August 2021, it will last for almost a month and a half Upside down, the price of galvanized coil in South China is about 200 yuan/ton compared with that in East China. According to the author’s analysis, the market is still in the process of rising in June 2021. As prices continue to rise, the prices in East China and South China gradually widen the gap, and the rate of increase in South China is obviously not as fast as that in East China. In the process of falling, the price performance in South China became stronger, and gradually opened the gap with East China. By November, the gap between the two widened to a maximum of 450 yuan / ton in the whole year, and then the price in South China was higher than that in East China and gradually returned to normal levels.

After the Spring Festival in 2022, the demand for galvanized sheet coils in various regions started slowly, and the overall growth rate and average price were lower than the same period last year. Although the price in South China is higher than that in East China, the price difference between the two has not reached the normal price difference level. After March, with the downward adjustment of the market price, the price difference between the two places began to narrow again, and the price difference between South China and East China was about 40 yuan/ton.