During the week ending September 15, domestic semi-finished steel prices in China have indicated a stable trend, while overall transaction activity in the overall market has been at low levels. Average prices of steel billet and slab in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.
During the given week, buyers hoped to continue to drive down semi-finished steel prices while steelmakers and traders, on the other hand, were not willing to sell at a further reduced price, which caused the apparent downward movement in overall trading volume in China’s domestic market.
Currently, the traditional peak season of September has not yet met with steel enterprises’ expectation of increasing finished steel prices, which leads to the traders’ lack of confidence towards the semi-finished market. It is thought that semi-finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market can hardly rise significantly and will likely move on a stable trend in the coming period.
| Product Name | Spec. | Category | City | Price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly Change (RMB/mt) |
| Billet | 150 mm x 150 mm | Q195-Q235 | Tangshan | 1,750 | 275 | 0 |
| Jinzhong | 1,750 | 275 | 0 | |||
| Fuzhou | 1,800 | 283 | 0 | |||
| Jiangyin | 1,840 | 289 | 0 | |||
| Average price | 1,785 | 280 | 0 | |||
| Billet | 150 mm x 150 mm | 20 MnSi | Tangshan | 1,880 | 295 | 0 |
| Jinzhong | 1,880 | 295 | 0 | |||
| Fuzhou | 1,900 | 298 | 0 | |||
| Jiangyin | 1,950 | 306 | 0 | |||
| Average price | 1,903 | 299 | 0 | |||
| Slab | 250*1800*6000 | Q235 | Tangshan,Hebei | 1,750 | 275 | 0 |
The prices are on actual weight basis, 17 percent VAT is included in all prices and all prices are ex-warehouse.
$1 = RMB 6.37