Chinese steel plate traders not confident
2023-04-04 08:17:12 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 4 Apr 23 - Discouraged by the poor sales performance, domestic steel plate traders show little confidence in the market prospect at the moment. The current mainstream prices of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm hover at RMB4,430/t (USD645/t), RMB4,460/t (USD649/t) and RMB4,590/t (USD668/t) D/P respectively in warehouses Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with the former two down by RMB10/t (USD1.5/t) and RMB20/t (USD3/t) and the latter one stable compared with the last trading day. Insiders foresee slight price decrease in the following two or three days seeing the dim market.
"End users from downstream industries such as industrial and mine machinery either report losses or insufficient orders for final products, and remain inactive in purchasing. We just sold 300t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB4,430/t (USD645/t) on Monday and last sold 400t of the material at RMB4,440/t (USD646/t) last Sunday, while could sell 700t a day in the middle of February," noted a trader in Tianjin. Adopting pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect, the trader endeavors to reduce stocks, and currently holds around 4,000t stocks, against 7,000t in early February. Taking the low purchasing activities of downstream customers into consideration, he worries prices of steel plate would edge down further in the forthcoming several days.
Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 15,000t, the trader might sell 10,000t in April, down from 12,000t in March. He roughly sold 26,000t in the first quarter of 2023, against 81,000t or so in 2022.
"We kept reducing stocks since the middle of March with the absence of confidence. Presently, we hold around 6,000t of stocks, accounting for 40% of the highest level in early February," disclosed a trader in Shanghai. "Actually, we foresee narrowly stable prices within April, but worry about a quick drop of around RMB500/t (USD73/t) in May when the demand from downstream industries continues to be soft and the confidence of market participants weakens further," added the trader. Quoting RMB4,460/t (USD649/t) without concession for steel plate Q235B 14-25mm, the trader last sold 300t at RMB4,480/t (USD652/t) last Sunday. He believes prices of steel plate might keep flat in the coming several days upon the steady market.
The trader might sell 8,000t in April, down from 10,000t in March. With the regular monthly sales volume of 10,000t, he recorded the total sales volume of around 25,000t in the first quarter of 2023, against 92,000t more or less in 2022.
A trader in Guangzhou also shows little confidence in the market prospect and worries a price drop in May. "Benefited from the reduced supply from nearby steel mills, the market inventory remains low, restraining prices of steel plate from going down obviously. However, the supply will increase in May, while the demand shows no signs of improving till now," noted the trader. In the meantime, he pointed out that end users purchase strictly from hand to mouth now. "On Monday, we sold 60t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB4,590/t (USD668/t) to a regular buyer, while he purchased 300t at one single time in the middle of February," complained the trader. In the meantime, the trader added that the price gap with North China remains only RMB160/t (USD23/t) at present, while stays at above RMB200/t (USD30/t) normally. Given the dim market, the trader believes prices of steel plate would go down slightly in the coming several days.
Presently, the trader only holds around 4,000t of stocks, half of that in early February. He might sell 4,000t in April, down from 5,000t in March. With the regular monthly sales volume of 8,000t, the trader totally sold 12,000t of steel plate in the first quarter of 2023, against 61,000t in 2022.
"End users from downstream industries such as industrial and mine machinery either report losses or insufficient orders for final products, and remain inactive in purchasing. We just sold 300t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB4,430/t (USD645/t) on Monday and last sold 400t of the material at RMB4,440/t (USD646/t) last Sunday, while could sell 700t a day in the middle of February," noted a trader in Tianjin. Adopting pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect, the trader endeavors to reduce stocks, and currently holds around 4,000t stocks, against 7,000t in early February. Taking the low purchasing activities of downstream customers into consideration, he worries prices of steel plate would edge down further in the forthcoming several days.
Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 15,000t, the trader might sell 10,000t in April, down from 12,000t in March. He roughly sold 26,000t in the first quarter of 2023, against 81,000t or so in 2022.
"We kept reducing stocks since the middle of March with the absence of confidence. Presently, we hold around 6,000t of stocks, accounting for 40% of the highest level in early February," disclosed a trader in Shanghai. "Actually, we foresee narrowly stable prices within April, but worry about a quick drop of around RMB500/t (USD73/t) in May when the demand from downstream industries continues to be soft and the confidence of market participants weakens further," added the trader. Quoting RMB4,460/t (USD649/t) without concession for steel plate Q235B 14-25mm, the trader last sold 300t at RMB4,480/t (USD652/t) last Sunday. He believes prices of steel plate might keep flat in the coming several days upon the steady market.
The trader might sell 8,000t in April, down from 10,000t in March. With the regular monthly sales volume of 10,000t, he recorded the total sales volume of around 25,000t in the first quarter of 2023, against 92,000t more or less in 2022.
A trader in Guangzhou also shows little confidence in the market prospect and worries a price drop in May. "Benefited from the reduced supply from nearby steel mills, the market inventory remains low, restraining prices of steel plate from going down obviously. However, the supply will increase in May, while the demand shows no signs of improving till now," noted the trader. In the meantime, he pointed out that end users purchase strictly from hand to mouth now. "On Monday, we sold 60t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB4,590/t (USD668/t) to a regular buyer, while he purchased 300t at one single time in the middle of February," complained the trader. In the meantime, the trader added that the price gap with North China remains only RMB160/t (USD23/t) at present, while stays at above RMB200/t (USD30/t) normally. Given the dim market, the trader believes prices of steel plate would go down slightly in the coming several days.
Presently, the trader only holds around 4,000t of stocks, half of that in early February. He might sell 4,000t in April, down from 5,000t in March. With the regular monthly sales volume of 8,000t, the trader totally sold 12,000t of steel plate in the first quarter of 2023, against 61,000t in 2022.
