Plate market remains stable with slight decline in actual deal prices

SteelOrbis Shanghai The Chinese medium plate market saw an overall flat performance during the past week, with prices showing steady movement. However, there was a certain slip in actual deal prices. On November 21, the average price of 16 mm Q235 B in Shanghai, Tianjin and Lecong was at RMB 3,557/mt ($452), while that of 16 mm Q345 B was at RMB 3,675/mt ($466), neutral week on week. At the beginning of week 46, Yingkou Steel hiked its ex-factory prices, thus widening the price gap between market price and ex-factory price. In this case, the price of Yingkou products saw some bounce throughout the past week. Some traders anticipated a market rebound because of Yingkou's performance. However, although Yingkou still accounts for a relatively big market share, it is unable to dominate the whole market to the extent it did previously. The reason that caused Yingkou to lose its ability to dominate the market is the greater diversification of supplies by various mills in the market. Now, it has become much easier for consumers to buy products from other medium-sized mills at lower prices. In addition, sources report that there will be fewer supplies from Maanshan Steel and Xinyu Steel in the market in the coming period. Therefore, most large-sized mill supplies will come from Yingkou Steel. Since the price level of Yingkou's products is always very high, the price gap between supplies from large-sized mills and medium-sized ones may be widened in the future. With the bearish commercial activity and downward market pressure on prices, traders are waiting to see the price policies of the different mills. If the mills lower their ex-factory prices by a large margin by the end of November, the market is likely to see a rapid decrease. Generally speaking, the overall tendency is downward.