Chinese steel plate market inactive
2023-04-12 08:19:41 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 12 Apr 23 - The domestic steel plate market runs slowly at the moment, and prices go down. The present prevailing prices of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm hover at RMB4,350/t (USD632/t), RMB4,440/t (USD645/t) and RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) D/P respectively in warehouses Tianjin, Shenyang and Shanghai, down by RMB30/t (USD4/t), RMB20/t (USD3/t) and RMB10/t (USD1.5/t) from Monday. Insiders foresee further price decline in the forthcoming several days seeing the slow market.
"Prices of steel billet dropped by RMB50/t (USD7/t) to RMB3,750/t (USD545/t) on late Monday, together with the pessimistic atmosphere in the market, forcing us to move down prices of steel plate again on Tuesday after the markdown of RMB30/t (USD4/t) on Monday," disclosed a trader in Tangshan, Hebei. According to him, the market performance showed signs of recovering on Monday as end users watching the market began placing orders when prices dropped, but they tended to hold back from purchasing on Tuesday and the market turned to dim again. The trader just sold 50t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB4,350/t (USD632/t) on Tuesday and last sold 200t of the material at RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) on Monday. Taking the slow market into consideration, the trader worries prices of steel plate might edge down further in the coming several days.
Holding around 1,500t of stocks, the trader would sell 4,000t in April, down from 5,000t in March. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 6,000t, he recorded the sales volume of around 12,000t in the first quarter of 2023 and 70,000t or so in 2022.
"The demand from downstream industries keeps recovering, but far from satisfactory, and the current market performance even remains worse than that in February when prices keep rising and end users purchased actively, though it acts as the traditional peak season," complained a trader in Shenyang, Liaoning. Discouraged by the poor sales performance, the trader moved down prices of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm to RMB4,440/t (USD645/t) on Tuesday, while last sold 400t of the material at RMB4,450/t (USD647/t) on Monday. "We just sold 100t to a regular buyer on Tuesday," added the trader. Given the sluggish demand, he predicts another price decline in the following several days.
Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 9,000t, the trader might sell 6,000t in April. He roughly sold 11,000t in the first quarter of 2023, holding around 4,000t of inventories at the moment.
"Though the demand from downstream industries keeps improving, it remains not as quick as expected. Restricted by the downward price trend, end users are cautious about placing orders, believing prices of steel plate would drop further seeing the large gap of RMB200/t (USD30/t) with HRC," revealed a trader in Shanghai. Quoting RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) for steel plate Q235B 14-25mm, he refused to sell at prices below RMB4,400/t (USD639/t) on Monday. "We sold 200t of the material at RMB4,400/t (USD639/t) on Monday and 100t at RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) on Tuesday, while could sell 300t a day in early March," added the trader. Upon the low purchasing activities of downstream customers, he believes prices of steel plate might go down again in the upcoming several days.
Presently, the trader holds approximately 8,000t in stocks. With the typical monthly sales volume of 5,000t, the trader would sell 4,500t in April, down from 5,000t in Mach. He roughly sold 14,000t in the first quarter of 2023 and 60,000t or so in 2022.
"Prices of steel billet dropped by RMB50/t (USD7/t) to RMB3,750/t (USD545/t) on late Monday, together with the pessimistic atmosphere in the market, forcing us to move down prices of steel plate again on Tuesday after the markdown of RMB30/t (USD4/t) on Monday," disclosed a trader in Tangshan, Hebei. According to him, the market performance showed signs of recovering on Monday as end users watching the market began placing orders when prices dropped, but they tended to hold back from purchasing on Tuesday and the market turned to dim again. The trader just sold 50t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB4,350/t (USD632/t) on Tuesday and last sold 200t of the material at RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) on Monday. Taking the slow market into consideration, the trader worries prices of steel plate might edge down further in the coming several days.
Holding around 1,500t of stocks, the trader would sell 4,000t in April, down from 5,000t in March. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 6,000t, he recorded the sales volume of around 12,000t in the first quarter of 2023 and 70,000t or so in 2022.
"The demand from downstream industries keeps recovering, but far from satisfactory, and the current market performance even remains worse than that in February when prices keep rising and end users purchased actively, though it acts as the traditional peak season," complained a trader in Shenyang, Liaoning. Discouraged by the poor sales performance, the trader moved down prices of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm to RMB4,440/t (USD645/t) on Tuesday, while last sold 400t of the material at RMB4,450/t (USD647/t) on Monday. "We just sold 100t to a regular buyer on Tuesday," added the trader. Given the sluggish demand, he predicts another price decline in the following several days.
Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 9,000t, the trader might sell 6,000t in April. He roughly sold 11,000t in the first quarter of 2023, holding around 4,000t of inventories at the moment.
"Though the demand from downstream industries keeps improving, it remains not as quick as expected. Restricted by the downward price trend, end users are cautious about placing orders, believing prices of steel plate would drop further seeing the large gap of RMB200/t (USD30/t) with HRC," revealed a trader in Shanghai. Quoting RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) for steel plate Q235B 14-25mm, he refused to sell at prices below RMB4,400/t (USD639/t) on Monday. "We sold 200t of the material at RMB4,400/t (USD639/t) on Monday and 100t at RMB4,380/t (USD636/t) on Tuesday, while could sell 300t a day in early March," added the trader. Upon the low purchasing activities of downstream customers, he believes prices of steel plate might go down again in the upcoming several days.
Presently, the trader holds approximately 8,000t in stocks. With the typical monthly sales volume of 5,000t, the trader would sell 4,500t in April, down from 5,000t in Mach. He roughly sold 14,000t in the first quarter of 2023 and 60,000t or so in 2022.
