During the week ending September 29, steel plate prices in the Chinese domestic market have generally continued to follow a downward trend, while transaction activity has remained at poor levels. Average steel plate prices in China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, domestic steel futures prices have indicated a sharp decline, while import iron ore prices for China have declined below $80/mt CFR, with these factors contributing to bearish sentiment in the local Chinese steel plate market. Meanwhile, ahead of the National Day Holiday (October 1-7) starting this week, traders have been inclined to cut their prices in order to increase their sales volumes. Demand from downstream users has not shown any improvement and this has speeded up the declining trend of market prices. However, at the end of the past week, with prices already considered to be at low levels, traders have been less willing to cut their prices and started to keep their prices stable. It is expected that steel plates prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a narrow range in the coming period, with the trend depending on real demand after the holiday.