In the week ending December 1, steel plate prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved on diverse trends, with a downtrend seen for shipbuilding plate prices and slight upticks observed for common carbon and low alloy medium plate, while transaction activity in the market is mostly at decent levels, though activity is still slack in some areas of the country. Average steel plate prices in China can be viewed in the SteelOrbis price reports section.
During the given week, plate producers' production capacity utilization has risen in northern China, while not so many supplies have been flowing from the north to southern China due to the limited price gap between the north and south. With the rising trend seen in the finished steel futures market, some traders have started to increase their plate prices. On the other hand, the increasingly cold weather in China has exerted a negative impact on demand from downstream users. In the longer run, the colder weather in northern China will certainly cause plate supplies to be directed to the south of the country, putting downward pressure on prices in the latter region. As for the coming week, it is expected that plate prices in the Chinese domestic market will stabilize or witness a slight uptrend due to supply tightness in the spot market.