Plate prices gaining stability in China

SteelOrbis Shanghai Chinese plate markets showed different trends in different regions last week. Nevertheless, the overall direction of the prices was towards a recovery. The price gap among the regions has narrowed down. On August 1, the average price of 16 mm Q235 B plate in Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong increased RMB 147/mt ($18) week on week to RMB 3,517/mt ($441), and that of 16 mm Q345 B increased RMB 145/mt ($18) to RMB 3,735/mt ($469). The prices saw a sharp rebound in Tianjin through the previous week, and went stable in the beginning of last week. The market players accepted new price levels. In Shanghai, influenced by the steel mills and inventory, prices saw a sharp increase. Some market players reported that, due to the rapid price decrease in the previous weeks, all leading steel plate mills gathered in the beginning of this week to discuss the future of the market. The mills decided to hike their ex-factory prices in order to stop the market price decline. Besides, many trades also indicated that their inventories decreased to the lowest level during the rapid price decrease period; therefore, the ex-factory price increase of the mills directly reflected on the market prices. However, the medium plate prices in Lanzhou and surroundings went down sharply; more than RMB 200/mt in a week. The market prices of common carbon thin plate in Chongqing and Xian also decreased around RMB 180/mt. On the imports and exports side, sources reported that Chinese steel mills also increased their shipbuilding plate export offers to South Korea, following the Japanese mills. With the same price hike of $30/mt, Chinese shipbuilding plate price for the next quarter is around $520-530/mt CFR. Next week, the prices are expected to continue recovering, but the increases may not be as large as those of the previous week. Towards the end of the week, the prices may go down slightly.