During the week ending August 22, steel plate product prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued their uptrend of the previous week, with slight upticks in average medium plate prices in the main markets. As of August 22, average steel plate prices in the main cities in China are as follows:
Product name |
Specification |
Category |
Average price (RMB/mt) |
Weekly change (RMB/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
|
Common carbon medium plate |
20 mm |
Q235 |
4,893 |
+16 |
766 |
+3 |
Low alloy medium plate |
20 mm |
Q345 |
5,030 |
+20 |
787 |
+3 |
Shipbuilding plate |
16 mm |
CCS A/B |
5,190 |
0 |
812 |
0 |
In the past week, China's domestic steel plate market has been characterized by slow activity. At the beginning of the past week, major domestic producer Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation (WISCO) announced a hike in its steel plate prices for September. Also, boosted by the overall positive performance observed in the domestic steel futures market, market participants started to become quite optimistic on the prospects for the market in the coming period. In this context, medium plate prices in most cities of China registered varying degrees of increase. However, without any remarkable improvement in end-user demand, there was less upward movement in the market trend in the latter half of the past week.
As of August 19, aggregate steel plate inventory in the main cities of China totaled 1.49 million mt, increasing by 12,860 mt from the previous week.
In July, Chinese steel plate output totaled 6.41 million mt, rising by 527,000 mt or 8.95 percent from the same month last year. Amid the uncertainties in the international market, domestic traders are now maintaining a cautious attitude.
On the whole, the steel plate market in China is expected to vary between a sideways and slightly upward trend in the coming week.