Chinese steel plate market inactive
2024-04-18 08:32:58 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 18 Apr 24 - After the short-term boom last week, the domestic steel plate market turns to dim again this week due to the cautious purchasing attitudes of end users. The current prevailing prices of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm stand at RMB3,780/t (USD522/t), RMB3,920/t (USD541/t) and RMB3,850/t (USD532/t) D/P respectively in warehouses Tianjin, Shenyang and Wuxi, up by RMB30/t (USD4/t), RMB60/t (USD8/t) and RMB30/t (USD4/t) from late last week. Insiders forecast slight price decline in the following several days upon the slow market.
"End users strictly purchase from hand to mouth at the moment, with wait-and-see attitudes towards the market prospect. After tough negotiations, we just sold 600t of steel plate at RMB3,780/t (USD522/t) on Wednesday, while sold 700-800t a day last week," stated a trader in Tianjin, offering RMB3,780/t (USD522/t) D/P without concession for steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at present. In the meantime, he points out that the demand from downstream industries remains far from strong. However, nearby steel mills produce and deliver normally now boosted by the recovering profits. The trader deems prices of steel plate might decrease slightly by RMB10-20/t (USD1.4-2.8/t) in the forthcoming several days on the dim market.
Holding around 2,500t in inventory, the trader estimates that the sales volume in April would achieve about 15,000t, against 12,000t in March. Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 20,000t, he roughly sold 30,000t in the first quarter of 2024.
"We found it hard to conclude large deals now as end users keep cautious about purchasing dragged by insufficient orders for final products. Most of them report shrinking orders and remain inactive in production, with the operating rates of around 70%," stated another trader in Shenyang, Liaoning, who just sold 200t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB3,920/t (USD541/t) D/P when quoted RMB3,930/t (USD543/t) on Wednesday. According to him, the demand from downstream industries remains weaker than the corresponding period of last year, though April acts as the traditional peak season. The trader shows little confidence in the market prospect and predicts a price decrease of steel plate in the coming several days.
With the typical monthly sales volume of 9,000t, the trader might sell 8,000t of steel plate in April, against 6,000t in March. He recorded the sales volume of approximately 12,000t from January to March of 2023, holding more or less 4,000t of stocks for the moment.
A trader in Wuxi, Jiangsu also reports a slow market. "We tried to contact several regular clients on Wednesday, but they strictly purchase from hand to mouth upon the narrow and frequent fluctuations. Finally, we just sold 100t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB3,850/t (USD532/t), while last sold 200t of the material at RMB3,820/t (USD528/t) late last week," explained the trader. Adopting wait-and-see attitude towards the market prospect, the trader keeps reducing inventories. Presently, he just holds around 1,500t in stock, half of that in the middle of March. The trader deems prices of steel plate might decline slightly in the upcoming several days.
Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 10,000t, the trader predicts to sell 6,000t of steel plate in April, up from 4,000t in March. He recorded the sales volume of around 10,000t in the first three months of 2024 and 85,000t in 2023.
"End users strictly purchase from hand to mouth at the moment, with wait-and-see attitudes towards the market prospect. After tough negotiations, we just sold 600t of steel plate at RMB3,780/t (USD522/t) on Wednesday, while sold 700-800t a day last week," stated a trader in Tianjin, offering RMB3,780/t (USD522/t) D/P without concession for steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at present. In the meantime, he points out that the demand from downstream industries remains far from strong. However, nearby steel mills produce and deliver normally now boosted by the recovering profits. The trader deems prices of steel plate might decrease slightly by RMB10-20/t (USD1.4-2.8/t) in the forthcoming several days on the dim market.
Holding around 2,500t in inventory, the trader estimates that the sales volume in April would achieve about 15,000t, against 12,000t in March. Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 20,000t, he roughly sold 30,000t in the first quarter of 2024.
"We found it hard to conclude large deals now as end users keep cautious about purchasing dragged by insufficient orders for final products. Most of them report shrinking orders and remain inactive in production, with the operating rates of around 70%," stated another trader in Shenyang, Liaoning, who just sold 200t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB3,920/t (USD541/t) D/P when quoted RMB3,930/t (USD543/t) on Wednesday. According to him, the demand from downstream industries remains weaker than the corresponding period of last year, though April acts as the traditional peak season. The trader shows little confidence in the market prospect and predicts a price decrease of steel plate in the coming several days.
With the typical monthly sales volume of 9,000t, the trader might sell 8,000t of steel plate in April, against 6,000t in March. He recorded the sales volume of approximately 12,000t from January to March of 2023, holding more or less 4,000t of stocks for the moment.
A trader in Wuxi, Jiangsu also reports a slow market. "We tried to contact several regular clients on Wednesday, but they strictly purchase from hand to mouth upon the narrow and frequent fluctuations. Finally, we just sold 100t of steel plate Q235B 14-25mm at RMB3,850/t (USD532/t), while last sold 200t of the material at RMB3,820/t (USD528/t) late last week," explained the trader. Adopting wait-and-see attitude towards the market prospect, the trader keeps reducing inventories. Presently, he just holds around 1,500t in stock, half of that in the middle of March. The trader deems prices of steel plate might decline slightly in the upcoming several days.
Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 10,000t, the trader predicts to sell 6,000t of steel plate in April, up from 4,000t in March. He recorded the sales volume of around 10,000t in the first three months of 2024 and 85,000t in 2023.
