Chinese plate prices going up

SteelOrbis Shanghai Chinese medium plate prices have continued climbing this week with larger ranges, but the trade is not quite active. Meanwhile, supplies in each market are tight. The price hike of steel mills is the chief factor that drives up the market prices. Xinyu Steel hiked, on March 28, its prices for common carbon and low alloy plate by RMB 50-100/mt. After that, leading steel mills such as Linyuan Steel, Shanghai No.3 Steel Plant and Liuzhou Steel hiked their April ex-factory prices one after the other. The tight availability of the products supported the price trend. At present, the Tianjin market is short of 8mm and 20mm products, while the Lecong market is in shortage of 10mm and thinner products. The robust international market is another important factor that leads to increase in domestic prices. During last week, deals were concluded at $462/mt CFR for Chinese medium plate exported to S. Korea. The continuous increase in semis prices of other countries such as Brazil boosts the international medium plate prices. Many traders indicated that steel mills have difficulties in delivering the products, therefore, traders are not able to buy whatever they want. Traders' prices are going up in line with the levels of steel mills, but they are expected to become stable under bearish transaction volume. Nevertheless, the prices will remain in an upward trend in the long run. On April 4, the average price of 16 mm Q235 B in Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong increased RMB 116/mt ($14) weekly to RMB 3,633/mt ($453), while that of 16 mm Q345 B rose RMB 100/mt ($12) to RMB 3,700/mt ($461).