During the given week, domestic steel plate prices have indicated a sharper declining trend, with stronger decreases of RMB 60-200/mt ($9.7-32.3/mt) seen in the eastern, northern and central regions of China. Amid increased arrivals of new supplies, the market has been coming under pressure from higher inventory levels especially given the sluggishness of demand. Meanwhile, semi-finished steel prices have weakened further, resulting in reduced production costs for steel plate. Traders are downbeat on the future prospects for the market and have lowered their sales prices in order to bring in cash, resulting in increased competitiveness in the market. Most traders think that demand is unlikely to see significant improvement in the short term and believe steel plate prices will move down further due to the oversupply situation. However, considering the sharp declines already seen, it is expected that steel plate prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely decline by smaller margins in the coming week.
$1 = RMB 6.22