Medium plate prices starting to see rapid decrease

SteelOrbis Shanghai With the pessimistic attitudes of market players, the medium plate prices saw further decrease over the past week with sluggish commercial activity in all the markets. By the end of the trading on June 27, the average price of 16mm Q235 B in Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong is down RMB 143/mt ($18) to RMB 4'250/mt ($531), and that of 16 mm Q345 B is down RMB 150/mt ($6) to RMB 4'460/mt ($558). The medium plate prices were mainly in the downward trend during the whole week. Prices in Tianjin and Lecong have seen rebound for a day or two because of some policies implemented by the local leading steel mills, but the final price trend is still in the downward direction. In Shanghai market, the leading traders want to pull up the prices, resulting in a relatively high ex-factory price level of some steel mills, but with the increasing market supply, this can not influence much. At present, with a little bit panic, the market players begin to sell their products instead of holding. Some traders even sell their products at a low price level, causing a rapid decrease for the market. However, the market performance does not turn better. It is reported that Tianjin Steel has taken some measures on the rapid decrease in the current prices. It began to limit the sales as of June 26 in order to curb the downward trend for Tianjin market prices. Therefore, after the announcement of this, the price trend began to go stable. While in Lecong, it is reported that there will be an overhaul lasting about 20 days at Shaoguan Steel, the local leading steel mill, in July, which may influence the market supply greatly. The downward trend in the local market has also been influenced by this news. In Shanghai, with the increasing market supply from Yingkou, Magang and Xinyu, the market inventory has seen sharp increase compared with the previous week. Due to the high ex-factory prices of steel mills such as Yingkou, the market players want to pull the prices up, but since the current market supply is not provided by only one steel mill, so it is quite difficult to pull the price up. On the import and export side, the Japanese steelmakers' price for Chinese shipbuilding factories for July is $ 610-620/mt FOB. The price for August is estimated to be at least $ 650/mt FOB. Due to the increasing inventory and sluggish commercial activity, the market trend for the next week is still expected to go down.