During the week ending October 20, steel
plate prices in the Chinese domestic market have indicated a slight increase compared to one week ago, while transaction activity has remained at poor levels.
At the beginning of the given week, due to the rising trend seen in rebar futures prices and raw materials prices, domestic prices of rebar and HRC (hot rolled coil) followed an upward movement, with steel plates prices in
China also following suit. However, demand from the downstream industry has not shown significant improvement yet. Accordingly, following declines seen in the steel futures market in the middle of the past week, steel plates traders have become less confident on the future prospects for the market and this has contributed to a certain downward correction of prices in the domestic steel
plate spot market. Nevertheless, market prices are still slightly higher than they were one week ago. It is expected that steel plates prices in the Chinese domestic market will fluctuate within a narrow range in the coming week.