Slacker activity in Chinese domestic semi-finished steel market

During the week ending October 25, Chinese domestic semi-finished steel prices have continued to move up, while transaction activity in the overall market has been slacker than in the previous week and is now at low-to-medium levels. Average prices of steel billet and slab in the local Chinese market are presented in the table below.

During the given week, domestic steelmakers have reduced their supply of semi-finished steel to the market, resulting in reduced market activity. Meanwhile, coke prices have continued to move up, providing support for the upward movement of semi-finished steel prices. However, the relatively high prices of semi-finished steel have contributed to the slackening of transaction activities. It is thought that semi-finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely edge up slightly or move sideways in the coming week as sentiment in the market is still on the positive side.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 17 percent VAT.
 
$1 = RMB 6.78