1.What is the cost of cold-rolled coil?
The production process itself reveals that cold-rolled coils are inherently more expensive than pickled steel sheets. Pickled steel sheets are a "semi-finished product" of hot-rolled coils, while cold-rolled coils are the "finished product" obtained through further "refining" of pickled steel sheets.
According to industry data, the cash cost (including tax) of cold-rolled coils consists of three main parts: base material cost (primarily hot-rolled or pickled coils, accounting for over 70%), processing cost (approximately 400-450 yuan/ton), and other expenses. This processing fee of over 400 yuan is the main reason why it is more expensive than pickled steel sheets. The latest market price difference also confirms this: in November 2025, the national average price of 1.0mm cold-rolled coils was approximately 3903 yuan/ton, while the average price of hot-rolled coils (3.0mm), the base material, was approximately 3377 yuan/ton, a price difference of 526 yuan/ton.
Therefore, if the goal is simply to make a simple structural component, replacing pickled steel sheets with cold-rolled coils is equivalent to incurring an additional cost of at least 400-500 yuan/ton.
2.What are the performance characteristics of cold-rolled coils?
Surface Quality: Smooth, bright surface, free of iron oxide scale, and smooth to the touch.
Dimensional Accuracy: Highest precision; thickness tolerance can be controlled within an extremely small range.
Mechanical Properties: After cold rolling and annealing, it has good overall mechanical properties and higher strength, but its ductility is slightly inferior to high-quality hot-rolled plates.
Cost: High (including processing fees of approximately 400-500 RMB/ton)
3.What are the performance characteristics of pickled steel plates?
Surface Quality: The surface is a uniform matte silver-gray, without oxide scale, but not as smooth as cold-rolled steel.
Dimensional Accuracy: Accuracy is between hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, better than hot-rolled but not as good as cold-rolled.
Mechanical Properties: It basically retains the good ductility of hot-rolled steel, making it more suitable for deep drawing and complex bending.
4.What is suitable for appearance parts, high-precision parts, and parts that require high-quality painting in the future?
Examples include precision gaskets, shielding components for electronic devices, or appliance panels and automotive interior parts. These applications have stringent requirements for surface finish and dimensional accuracy, necessitating the use of cold-rolled coils. In these cases, the extra cost is a necessary investment to meet the product's basic functional and quality requirements.
5.What are the requirements for cold-rolled coils for internal structural components and stamped parts with low requirements for surface finish and precision?
For example, there are mounting brackets, internal reinforcing ribs, and ordinary hardware accessories. These parts are hidden inside, unseen, and have less stringent tolerance requirements. Pickled steel sheets can fully meet the usage requirements, saving 400-500 yuan per ton in cost. This is precisely the core value of the pickled steel sheet market-"effectively reducing procurement costs for users while ensuring surface quality requirements." In this case, replacing pickled steel sheets with cold-rolled coils is a typical example of functional overkill and is very uneconomical in terms of cost.