During the week ending October 13, the Chinese steel plate market has followed a fluctuating upward trend. With inventory pressure still existing, domestic traders now hold different expectations for the market trend in the coming period. As of October 13, the average steel plate prices in the main Chinese regions are as follows:
Product name | Specification | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Weekly change (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
Common carbon medium plate | 20 mm | Q235 | 4,467 | +40 | 671 | +6 |
Low alloy medium plate | 20 mm | Q345 | 4,650 | +45 | 698 | +7 |
Shipbuilding plate | 16 mm | CCS A/B | 4,720 | - | 709 | - |
After China's National Day holiday, the transaction prices of steel plate products in most domestic regions have shown improvement, despite the regression seen in the futures market. However, sales prices now show significant variation depending on the traders.
The Chinese steel giant Baosteel Corporation announced on October 12 that it is keeping its listed prices of hot rolled coil and steel plate unchanged in November. Thus, it is expected that traders might have to delay their efforts to achieve further increases in their prices.
On the other hand, with inventories increasing, more discounts may be given by both traders and mills as they seek to clear out their stocks. Nevertheless, in the short term, the market is expected to trend sideways.