No demand improvement in Chinese domestic steel section market

Chinese domestic steel section prices have fluctuated on a slightly soft trend in the past seven days.
 
In the Shanghai market, the price of 50 mm x 50 mm x 5 m steel angles is now at $407/mt. The same product is sold at $328/mt in the Tangshan market and at $397/mt in the Guangzhou market. Meanwhile, prices of 160 mm x 65 mm x 8.5 mm steel channels stand at $391/mt in the Shanghai market, at $328/mt in Tangshan and at $415/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 $392/mt, $339/mt and $419/mt. The prices are all ex-mill, including 17 percent VAT. Steel section prices in the Chinese domestic market can be viewed in the table below.
 
As for billet, prices in the Chinese domestic market have moved sideways during the past week. In Tangshan, the current price of Q235 150 x 150 mm square billet is at RMB1,820/mt ($277/mt), the price of 165 x 225 mm rectangular billet stands at RMB 1,850/mt ($282/mt), while the price of 20MnSi billet is at around RMB 1,940/mt ($296/mt). The prices are all ex-mill, including 17 percent VAT.

Overall trading activity in the Chinese domestic steel section market has remained sluggish in the past week. Domestic steel section producers have reduced their quotations, while traders have cut their prices slightly as they are under pressure to conclude sales. As for the coming week, it is believed that downstream demand is unlikely to improve and so domestic steel section prices may continue to soften slightly.

 $1 = RMB 6.56