During the week ending August 18, steel plate prices in Chinese domestic market have trended sideways on the whole. As of August 18, average prices of plate products in the main Chinese cities are as follows:
Product Name | Specification | Category | Average Price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Common carbon medium plate | 20 mm | Q235 | 4,417 | 652 | ||
Low alloy medium plate | 20 mm | Q345 | 4,585 | 35 | 676 | +5 |
Shipbuilding plate | 16 mm | CCS A/B | 4,763 | +10 | 704 | +1 |
With the end of the previous upward trends in the Chinese steel futures market, the domestic spot steel markets have started to show signs of weaknesses in the last week. During the past week, steel plate prices in China have practically followed a stable trend, only with some slight decreases seen in products with specifications of 30 mm and above. However, on the mills' side, several prominent domestic producers such as Baosteel Group and Anshan Steel Group have continued to raise prices for plate products. During the week in question, Baosteel announced it was increasing its offers for thick plates by RMB 200/mt ($29/mt). As a result, the producer's Q235 thick plates are now quoted at RMB 4,450/mt ($656/mt). Meanwhile, Anshan Steel has also raised its medium plate prices, by RMB 330/mt ($49/mt). Thus, its Q235 20 mm common carbon medium plate offers are at RMB 3,800/mt ($560/mt). All prices exclude taxes.
Meanwhile, the high costs of raw materials were a contributing factor to the upward trend in the domestic finished steel market in the past few weeks.
With not much interest coming from buyers, the Chinese steel plate market has been characterized by sluggishness recently. End-users are still skeptical about the current pricing trends, just buying at small tonnages.