Posted on 05 Mar 2024
As of March 3, the price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,520/tonne ($489/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT, unchanged from that on February 25. And billet trading activities were improving recently as local re-rollers needed to make some replenishments with their operations continuing to rise.
As a result, the daily billet consumption among 48 re-rollers in Tangshan under Mysteel's tracking had increased for the second week over February 22-28, up by another 12,200 tonnes/day on week to near a 2.5-month high of 54,900 t/d on average.
These surveyed re-rollers saw their total billet stocks reverse down by 53,000 tonnes on week to 398,000 tonnes as of February 28, as most re-rollers had resumed production last week.
Meanwhile, billet stocks at retailers in Tangshan also thinned as local re-rollers purchased certain volumes of billets to fulfil their immediate needs, according to survey respondents. Total billet inventories across four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan decreased by 35,000 tonnes on week to 1.56 million tonnes as of February 29.
On the supply side, daily output of billets among 24 steelmakers in Tangshan under Mysteel's survey averaged 38,100 t/d over February 23-29, edging up by 200 t/d on week and marking a four-week rise, as some mills lifted production after their losses on billet sales had narrowed.
Though Tangshan billet prices remained unchanged last week, losses suffered by steelmakers on their billet sales eased somehow due to lower production costs, Mysteel's survey suggested.
Specifically, the average costs incurred by 10 major mills in Tangshan under Mysteel's survey declined by Yuan 58/t on week to Yuan 3,706/t including the 13% VAT last week, and the average losses they endured on selling those semis eased by Yuan 38/t on week to Yuan 176/t as of March 1.
Source:Mysteel Global
