In the week ending January 5, steel
plate prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued to indicate a decreasing trend for common carbon and low alloy medium
plate, remaining stable for shipbuilding
plate, while overall transaction activity in the market has generally been at poor levels.
Average steel plate prices in
China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, with prices of plates arriving in the market indicating significant decreases, traders have decided to lower their sales prices in order to bring in cash. Currently, Chinese
plate producers are happy with their profit margins and so they continue to operate at high capacity utilization levels, while the slack demand amid cold winter weather conditions has contributed to the high inventory levels in the market. In the coming period,
plate supplies from northern
China are expected to continue to flow to southern
China, and so
plate prices in the south will likely remain on their declining trend. It is expected that steel
plate prices in the overall Chinese domestic market will move on a slight downtrend in the coming week.