According to statement issued by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC), transaction volumes in the domestic steel market have lately declined and steel prices have also showed a slight downtrend, in a context of weak purchasing activity from downstream enterprises. The MOC added that steel prices in China are expected to continue to fall slightly in the near future.
Accordingly, in the week from October 18 to October 24, domestic steel prices in China declined by 0.6 percent compared to the previous week. Inter alia, prices of 145 x 2.5 mm hot rolled strip, 20 mm x 1.2 mm welded pipe and 3 mm hot rolled standard sheet (HRS) declined by 1.7 percent, 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent respectively in the week in question, on week-on-week basis.
In the city of Tangshan, Hebei Province, the iron concentrate market has been sluggish, with raw material prices decreasing slightly. From October 18 to October 24, average domestic iron ore prices in China declined by 3.1 percent compared to the previous week, against a background of decreasing international steel prices. In mid-October, the CRU Steel Price Index stood at 177.7, down 1.6 percent compared to mid-September.