During the past week, the Chinese medium plate market has continued to fluctuate, with market prices decreasing slightly. As of May 23, the average prices of medium plate in China's major markets are as follows:
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
Common carbon medium plate |
20 mm |
Q235 |
4,970 |
-27 |
762 |
-4 |
Low alloy medium plate |
20 mm |
Q345 |
5,055 |
-30 |
775 |
-5 |
Shipbuilding plate |
16 mm |
CCS A/B |
5,397 |
-10 |
828 |
-2 |
Affected by the softening in the steel futures market and the weakness observed in the domestic market for construction steel and hot rolled products, in the past week medium plate prices in China have again fallen slightly. Transaction activity is sluggish, while a strong wait-and-see stance currently prevails in the market. However, due to high costs, most traders are reluctant to lower their prices by any significant margin, and thus market prices have only dropped slightly. In addition, power rationing measures have impacted both the mills and the downstream markets, and so supply and demand generally remain balanced.
Regarding inventory, on May 21 the aggregate inventory of medium plate in China's main markets was 1,503,310 mt, down 7,110 mt compared with May 13. On the same date, total inventory of medium plate in the Shanghai market was 375,790 mt, down 1,500 mt week on week.
On the shipbuilding side, market prices and transactions have been negatively impacted by slow demand. In January-April this year, the total transacted volume for new vessels in China was 8.77 million dwt, with respective monthly transaction volumes of 4.4551 million dwt, 606,600 dwt, 1.2006 million dwt, and 2.5139 million dwt. Meanwhile, in the January-April period, South Korea's total transaction volume was 10.44 million dwt.
In conclusion, China's medium plate market may continue its weak trend in the coming week.