Chinese domestic steel section market moves down slightly

Chinese domestic steel section prices have mostly declined slightly on week-on-week basis.

In the Shanghai market, the price of 50 mm x 50 mm x 5 m steel angles is now at $625/mt (RMB 4,160/mt). The same product is sold at $593/mt (RMB 3,950/mt) in the Tangshan market and at $674/mt (RMB 4,490/mt) in the Guangzhou market. Meanwhile, prices of 160 mm x 65 mm x 8.5 mm steel channels stand at $622/mt (RMB 4,140/mt) in the Shanghai market, at $596/mt (RMB 3,970/mt) in Tangshan and at $703/mt (RMB 4,680/mt) in the Guangzhou market. In the Shanghai, Tangshan and Guangzhou markets, 250 mm x 118 mm x 10 m I-beam prices stand respectively at $635/mt (RMB 4,230/mt), $611/mt (RMB 4,070/mt) and $692/mt (RMB 4,610/mt). The prices are all ex-mill, including 16 percent VAT. Steel section prices in the Chinese domestic market can be viewed in the table below.

As for billet, prices of the semi-finished steel product in the Chinese domestic market have risen slightly in the past seven days. In Tangshan, the current price of Q235 150 x 150 mm square billet is at RMB 3,610/mt ($542/mt), the price of 165 x 225 mm rectangular billet stands at RMB 3,630/mt ($545/mt), while the price of 20MnSi billet is at around RMB 3,730/mt ($560/mt). The prices are all ex-mill, including 16 percent VAT.

In the past week, Chinese domestic steel section first declined and then rebounded, with prices now down slightly week on week. Overall trading activity is still weak. Upstream billet prices and rebar futures prices decreased, but later rebounded, causing steel section prices to follow similar trends, though with a limited increase due to the weakness of trading activity. As for the coming week, it is believed that the domestic steel section market price may fluctuate on a slightly soft trend amid weak demand increased supply.

$1 = RMB 6.66