Indicating an overall softness, China's domestic medium plate market has declined gently throughout the past week against the background of rising market inventory and increasing supply pressure. In general, demand is relatively flat in the current market.
Product name | Specification | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Common carbon medium plate | 20 mm | Q235 | 3,553 | -134 | 520 | -20 |
Low alloy medium plate | 20 mm | Q345 | 3,690 | -170 | 540 | -25 |
16 mm | CCS A/B | 4,240 | -17 | 621 | -2 |
China's domestic steel market has traditionally seen a strong ascension of prices during the so-called "golden September" and "silver October," when market demand is usually boosted by real estate construction and the operations of other downstream enterprises. However, in September this year, hindered by the recent tightening of credit availability, the overall economic environment in China looks weak and the domestic steel market remains under a cloud. Meanwhile, medium plate prices in China have been indicating an even weaker trend than local rebar prices in recent days.
China's domestic medium plate market is expected to come under relatively strong pressure from the production capacity releases of various first tier mills in the near future. It is reported that, except for some individual mills, most large mills are not scheduled to carry out any overhauling work in the third quarter of this year. Hebei Jingye plans to produce 150,000 mt of medium plate in September, while its current stocks are at around 30,000-40,000 mt. Meanwhile, Baosteel plans to produce 298,800 mt in the same month, and Jinan Steel is scheduled to produce 300,000 mt of medium plate. Moreover, it is also heard that mills have registered certain rises in their medium plate inventories, but none of them have changed their production schedules for the future. In this connection, if end-side market demand does not recovery in the coming period, supply pressure is likely to push the market further down.
As regards the downstream side, with very few orders received from shipbuilding plants and steel structural plants, the trading volume is quite limited in the domestic medium plate market. With negative factors dominating the market, China's medium plate prices are expected to retain their declining movement in the coming weeks.