Buyers become more cautious in Chinese domestic semi-finished steel market

During the week ending December 12, Chinese domestic semi-finished steel prices have indicated diverse trends, while transaction activity in the market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average prices of steel billet and slab in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.

During the given week, supply of semi-finished steel in the domestic market has been on the short side, while steelmakers in many regions have chosen to raise their prices of semi-finished steel, though buyers have become more cautious about concluding purchases due to the higher prices. The lack of any improvement in demand is expected to exert a negative impact on semi-finished steel prices. It is thought that semi-finished steel prices in China will likely see downward corrections in the coming week.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 17 percent VAT.
 
$1 = RMB 6.62