Price trend:

Last week, the national price of mild steel plates fluctuated downwards, with generally weak trading volume. Last week, cold air moved eastward and southward, bringing increased temperature drops and rain/snow in both the north and south, disrupting transportation, and restricting outdoor construction, resulting in a decrease in apparent demand compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, losses for construction steel companies worsened, leading to more production cuts and maintenance shutdowns. Demand rebounded from its low point, and market quotations remained stable with a wait-and-see attitude. According to the SunSirs commodity market analysis system, the price of ordinary mild steel plate (material: Q235B; specification: 20) on November 7th was 3,272 RMB/ton, a decrease of 0.3% compared to Monday.

Influencing factors

Steel billet market: Domestic steel billet prices remained weak last week. As of November 7th, the price of ordinary square billet in Tangshan was 2,930 RMB/ton (including tax). Steel billet transactions were generally weak, while downstream finished steel prices remained stable.

On the demand side, as of November 6, the consumption of mild steel plates last week was 1.5994 million tons, a decrease of 43,100 tons from the previous week, and a month-on-month decrease of 0.28%.

Regarding inventory, week-on-week inventory decreased slightly, but year-on-year inventory levels remain high, indicating continued inventory pressure. As of November 6th, the total national inventory of medium plates was 2.467 million tons, a decrease of 12,100 tons from the previous week.

On the supply side, as of November 6, the operating rate was 90.00%, a decrease of 1.67% week-on-week; the actual output of steel mills was 1.5973 million tons, a decrease of 36,300 tons week-on-week; the capacity utilization rate of steel mills was 83.97%, a decrease of 1.91% week-on-week; and the inventory of steel mills was 840,000 tons, a decrease of 10,000 tons week-on-week..

Market outlook

As of November 7, end-user demand for steel structures was weak, with fewer downstream orders. This typically leads to delayed purchases to prevent price drops. Even with significant hidden price reductions in the medium plate market, the lackluster demand situation is unlikely to change. Regarding market sentiment, traders have not reduced their inventories significantly and are cautious about the future market outlook. Overall, the domestic mild steel plate market is expected to continue its slight fluctuations next week.

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