Chinese domestic steel section prices increase slightly

Chinese domestic steel section prices have mostly increased slightly during the past week.

In the Shanghai market, the price of 50 mm x 50 mm x 5 m steel angles is now at $613/mt (RMB 4,160/mt). The same product is sold at $596/mt (RMB 4,050/mt) in the Tangshan market and at $667/mt (RMB 4,530/mt) in the Guangzhou market. Meanwhile, prices of 160 mm x 65 mm x 8.5 mm steel channels stand at $610/mt (RMB 4,140/mt) in the Shanghai market, at $610/mt (RMB 4,140/mt) in Tangshan and at $698/mt (RMB 4,740/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 $623/mt (RMB 4,230/mt), $602/mt (RMB 4,090/mt) and $689/mt (RMB 4,680/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 continued to rise slightly in the past seven days due to reduced supply. In Tangshan, the current price of Q235 150 x 150 mm square billet is at RMB 3,740/mt ($551/mt), the price of 165 x 225 mm rectangular billet stands at RMB 3,760/mt ($554/mt), while the price of 20MnSi billet is at around RMB 3,860/mt ($568/mt). The prices are all ex-mill, including 16 percent VAT.

Trading activity in the Chinese domestic steel section market has remained slack in the past week, while the minor upticks in prices have been mainly due to environmental measures in northern China which have negatively impacted production volumes. However, the weakness of demand has limited the increases in prices, while certain traders even slightly reduced prices in order to close deals. As for the coming week, it is believed that domestic steel section prices may fluctuate on a slightly soft trend.

$1 = RMB 6.79