Against a background of overall stable movement in China's domestic medium plate market, mills hiked their ex-factory prices frequently, thereby pushing up market price levels by a certain degree during the past week.
Product name | Specification | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Common carbon medium plate | 20 mm | Q235 | 3,410 | +40 | 499 | +6 |
Low alloy medium plate | 20 mm | Q345 | 3,505 | +20 | 513 | +3 |
16 mm | CCS A/B | 3,667 | +17 | 537 | +2 |
After Rio Tinto's settlement of 2009 iron ore contract prices with South Korea and Japan, China's domestic steel market posted a minor ascension due to the gap between the result and the expectations. Meanwhile, the Chinese mills have lately made frequent hikes to their ex-factory prices, with the overall increase margin generally at around RMB 50-100/mt ($7-15/mt). In the southern market, leading local mill Shaoguan Steel raised its prices continuously and was followed closely by traders, in a context of relatively low market inventory levels. However, in the wake of the continuous price rise, the local market began to show a certain softness in trading activities.
In Shanghai, prices of medium plate from first tier mills are up slightly to RMB 3,400/mt ($498/mt), while prices of second tier materials have climbed to the level of RMB 3,350/mt ($490/mt). The indications are that there is room for a further increase in the prices of the second tier materials. Meanwhile, some medium and small mills report that they have had to raise their prices due to the relatively high costs of imported slab. At present, slab quotations from Ukraine and Brazil to Chinese mills are mainly at $370/mt CFR, while slab offers from Taiwan to mainland China have already reached $390/mt CFR for July shipment, a jump of $30-50/mt month on month.
Finally, with new arrivals of supplies at normal levels, the northern Chinese market was characterized by an overall stability over the past week, with deal prices generally at around the level of RMB 3,300/mt ($483/mt).
On the export side, supported by the increase in the domestic market, export offers of Chinese medium plate have also been moving on a rising trend in recent days, with boron-added medium plate currently offered at $470/mt FOB, up $20/mt compared with the previous week. In addition, it is heard that South Korean customers have generally been purchasing medium plate at the level of $470/mt CFR in recent days - representing a gap of $10-20/mt between the Chinese and South Korean sides. As regards non-boron-added medium plate, export quotations have already risen above the level of $500/mt FOB.