Price trend

Last week, domestic mild steel plate prices fluctuated downward, with weak trading volume. The recovery in demand fell short of expectations, resulting in overall weakness. Demand within downstream sectors was significantly differentiated. Shipbuilding and construction machinery saw relatively robust demand, while traditional manufacturing sectors, such as general machinery, remained weak, directly dampening overall purchasing activity. Market activity was subdued, and traders, to alleviate inventory pressures, primarily focused on shipping. According to the SunSirs Commodity Market Analysis System, the price of standard mild steel plate (material: Q235B; specification: 20) was 3,282 RMB/ton on October 17, down 1.80% from Monday.

nfluencing factors

Billet Market:

Domestic billet prices rose last week before settling down. As of October 11, the tax-inclusive price of standard square billet in Tangshan was 2,920 RMB/ton, down 30 RMB/ton from Monday. Billet market transactions were weak, and downstream finished product prices were stable with some declines.

Supply and demand

As of October 16, the total social inventory of mild steel plate warehouses across the country was 2.4566 million tons, up 120,700 tons from the previous week.

The operating rate was 88.33%, unchanged from the previous week; the actual weekly output of the steel mill was 1.6187 million tons, a decrease of 6,000 tons from the previous week; the capacity utilization rate of the steel mill was 85.09%, a decrease of 0.32% from the previous week; the inventory of the steel mill was 849,000 tons, a decrease of 25,000 tons from the previous week.

In terms of demand, the consumption of mild steel plates last week was 1.6543 million tons, an increase of 130,200 tons from last week, and a month-on-month increase of 3.75%.

Market outlook

Overall, both social inventory and consumption increased, while both supply and demand remained low. Steel companies' profitability had further narrowed, and some regional mills had implemented price limits to counter internal competition. This led to intense competition between bulls and bears, with expectations for a key meeting next week. Overall, it is expected that the domestic mild steel plate market will continue its trend of slightly volatile declines this week.

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