During the week ending September 3, Chinese domestic semi-finished steel prices have started to show some signs of improvement. However, the increase has been registered only in Tangshan, while prices in most other regions have edged down as demand has not improved and 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.
Product name |
Specification (mm) |
Category |
City |
Price |
Price (USD/mt) |
Weekly Change |
Weekly Change |
150 x 150 |
Q195-235 |
Jiangyin,Jiangsu |
3,450 |
486.7 |
-50 |
-7 |
|
Jinzhong,Shanxi |
3,340 |
471.2 |
-10 |
-1 |
|||
Tangshan,Hebei |
3,350 |
472.6 |
60 |
8 |
|||
Fuzhou,Fujian |
3,460 |
488.1 |
-40 |
-6 |
|||
Average price |
3,400 |
479.7 |
-10 |
-1 |
|||
150 x 150 |
20MnSi |
Jiangyin,Jiangsu |
3,570 |
503.7 |
-50 |
-7 |
|
Jinzhong,Shanxi |
3,440 |
485.3 |
-10 |
-1 |
|||
Tangshan,Hebei |
3,450 |
486.7 |
60 |
8 |
|||
Fuzhou,Fujian |
3,560 |
502.3 |
-40 |
-6 |
|||
Average price |
3,505 |
494.5 |
-10 |
-1 |
|||
250 x 1,800 x 6,000 |
Q235 |
Tangshan,Hebei |
3,430 |
483.9 |
30 |
4 |
All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 13 percent VAT.
During the given week, semi-finished steel prices in China moved down first but edged up later. Iron ore futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange jumped by RMB 42.5/mt ($6/mt) over the week and rebar at the Shanghai Future Exchange gained RMB 72/mt ($10/mt) during the same period, boosting market sentiment. Environmental protection measures provided a certain degree of support for the semi-finished steel market. However, market players are still mostly maintaining a wait-and-see stance. It is expected that semi-finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market will indicate a slight rebound in the coming week.
$1 = RMB 7.09