Slack demand and poor sentiment in local Chinese steel plate market

Affected by the slumps in the domestic stock and futures markets as well as by slow market activity and depressed market sentiment at the end of June, some traders have continued to lower their offers in order to quicken cash flows. At present, inventory levels in the Chinese steel plate market are not so high, while semi-finished steel prices have to some extent inched upward recently, and these factors have limited the downward movement of domestic prices of steel plate products. However, market players say that in the near term downstream demand is not likely to improve, which means that there is no support from the demand side for any price increases. It is expected that steel plate prices in the Chinese domestic market will continue to trend down in the coming week, though by a limited margin.