Mainstream ex-China steel plate offer prices from mills have mostly been heard at $655-670/mt FOB for March shipment as of today, Monday, January 11, moving down by $12.5/mt on average week on week amid sluggish demand during the traditional offseason.
In China’s local market, demand for steel plate has been slack, while overseas buyers have been cautious as regards concluding purchases of ex-China steel plate, exerting a negative impact on prices. At the same time, the high levels of iron ore prices will provide support for steel plate prices. Meanwhile, steel plate for February shipment has been sold out and so mills are unlikely to be in a hurry to sell March shipment material in the near future and will try to hold prices firm.
Reference deal prices have been heard at $665-670/mt FOB to Southeast Asia and South America, moving sideways on average from the previous week, amid weak trading activity so far.
During the given week, local steel plate prices have declined slightly as demand from downstream users has been slack. Meanwhile, bearish sentiment has prevailed among market players, resulting in a wait-and-see stance as regards the future prospects for the market. At the same time, inventory of steel plate has been at relatively low levels, bolstering prices to some extent. It is expected that steel plate prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.
Average Q235 20 mm steel plate spot prices in China have lost RMB 13/mt ($2/mt) week on week to RMB 4,580/mt ($707/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of January 11, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,458/mt ($688/mt), decreasing by RMB 34/mt ($5.3/mt) or 0.76 percent since January 4.
$1 = RMB 6.4764
