Chinese medium plate market fluctuates slightly

China's domestic medium plate market has on the whole been fluctuating within a small range in recent days.

In general, China's domestic medium plate prices have appeared to be quite slack over the past week. Market prices first remained stable at the beginning of week before then indicating a certain softness, with a minor decline observed in prices of some products. Meanwhile, on the back of their relatively active sales performance, some traders have hiked their price levels instead of reducing them. As a result of the gradual consumption of low-price materials, current market inventories mainly consist of materials bought at relatively high ex-mill prices. In this context, traders generally prefer to keep their prices stable, with the high cost of material in stock being one of the main factors which currently prevents the market from declining further. However, various leading mills are following the market trend and lowering their ex-factory prices, and so the current relative stability is not expected to last for long.

Jiangsu Province-based Shagang recently slashed its medium plate prices for September by RMB 500/mt ($73/mt), with its 14-20 mm Q235 plate now offered at RMB 4,000/mt ($586/mt). Meanwhile, Hebei Steel Group lowered its medium plate prices by RMB 100/mt ($15/mt) for September, with the new price of 14-20 mm Q235 standing at RMB 3,800/mt ($556/mt). Additionally, Tangshan Medium Plate Co. has just issued its settlement prices for August and as well as an unchanged price policy for September; its August settlement price stands at RMB 3,630/mt ($531/mt).

However, despite the downward adjustments made by mills to their ex-factory prices, market prices are still lower than the ex-factory levels. As a result, the mills may be expected to reduce their prices further in the near future. Overall, the current phase of price correction in the market has not yet come to an end; indeed, it could last for a relatively long period of time.