Medium plate market rebounds

SteelOrbis Shanghai Chinese medium plate markets started seeing some activity as spring approaches. The shortage of products, as well the price hikes by steel mills drove up medium plate prices nationwide. Medium plate market has been very active last week with continuous price increase. The business activity was brisk after the stable condition in the previous week. The prices changed RMB 50-100/mt daily on March 6 and 7. At the end of day on March 7, the average price of 16 mm Q235 B in Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong was up RMB 287/mt ($36) weekly at RMB 3,450/mt ($492/mt), while that of 16 mm Q345 B was up RMB 330/mt ($41/mt) at RMB 3,510/mt ($437/mt). It is learnt that the current market is in short of products. Most products in Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong markets are February shipments, and there are not many recently arrived shipments in the market. At present, the inventory in the market is at a low level thanks to the better business condition. The profit range of traders increased. Medium plate market prices saw sharp increases after Wuhan Steel and Angang's second quarter price hikes. After Shaoguan Steel hiked its price by RMB 80/mt, Lecong market saw RMB 220/mt increase on March 6, the highest level among the three major markets. On the other hand, the increase in hot rolled coil and sheet prices is another major factor that supports the medium plate price trend. Under normal circumstances, medium plate price would have been around RMB 150/mt higher than that of hot rolled coils. Currently, the price is higher than the medium plate price by RMB 200-300/mt. On the import and export side, as the Lecong market has been calm after the Spring Festival, some traders shift their focus to the Taiwan market. Sources report that about 15 million metric tons of Shaoguan Steel's products are exported to Taiwan at RMB 3'170-3'200/mt. Most of the traders are very cautious and they have not ordered large quantities of products due to the rapid increase in prices. The quantity of the newly arrived products will not increase by a large amount. Medium plate market is expected to retain the upward trend.