During the week ending August 29, steel plate prices in Chinese domestic market have continued their slightly fluctuating trend. As of August 29, average steel plate prices in the main cities are as follows:
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price |
|
Common carbon medium plate |
20 mm |
Q235 |
4,880 |
-13 |
765 |
-2 |
Low alloy medium plate |
20 mm |
Q345 |
5,030 |
0 |
788 |
0 |
Shipbuilding plate |
16 mm |
CCS A/B |
5,190 |
0 |
813 |
0 |
The total medium plate inventory level in the main cities of China has slightly decreased. According to the most recent statistics, as of August 25, the steel plate inventory in the main cities totaled 1.48 million mt, decreasing by 15,380 mt compared to the previous week. In particular, the medium plate inventory in Shanghai reached 378,400 mt, down by 2,150 mt compared to the previous week.
During the given period, prices in Chinese domestic market haven't seen big changes. However, the overall market activities were not positive enough in China. In the past week, the market demand for low-priced materials has been tepid, while traders had a comfortable mood. Recently, traders have been holding a low level of inventories, with short supply of certain sizes. This has been attributed to the price increases to some extent. Most traders now choose to wait and this is not expected to change changed until September.
On the other hand, under the tighter monetary policy of the central bank of China, demand from the downstream buyers has been negatively impacted. Upon the approaching busy season in September and October, some medium plate traders are not positive towards the future market citing that the daily crude steel output is high, while others anticipate that the market is to be on the rise without any inventory pressure.
On the whole, the steel plate prices in Chinese domestic market are expected to continue their slightly fluctuating trend in the coming week.