Mainstream ex-China steel plate offer prices from mills have been heard at $880-890/mt FOB for May shipment as of today, Monday, April 11, moving down by $30/mt compared to March 28. Reference deal prices have been heard at $870/mt FOB to South America and Southeast Asia, being mainly at $900/mt FOB and above.
During the given week, supplies of steel plate have been limited and they have started to increase recently amid production resumption in northern China. The circulation of supplies has been negatively affected by Covid-19 restriction measures during the past two weeks, which have resulted in rising inventory levels. Demand for steel plate has not improved as market players had expected. All this has led to a sharp fall in plate export prices and it is thought that steel plate prices in the Chinese domestic market may also move down or fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
Average Q235 20 mm steel plate spot prices in China have moved up by RMB 10/mt ($1.6/mt) compared to March 28 to RMB 5,230/mt ($822/mt) ex-warehouse, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of April 11, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 5,038/mt ($792/mt), decreasing by RMB 230/mt ($36/mt) or 4.4 percent since April 6. Most of the decrease has been seen today, as futures prices have fallen by RMB 159/mt since last Friday.
$1 = RMB 6.3645
