Posted on 02 Apr 2024
Billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province lost ground last week, according to Mysteel's weekly survey, in tandem with the slides in Chinese ferrous futures prices and tepid billet trading.
As of March 31, the Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price under Mysteel's assessment had lost Yuan 160/tonne ($22.1/t) on week to reach Yuan 3,250/t EXW and including the 13% VAT.
During the survey period, re-rollers in Tangshan saw their operational rate decline on week – as they responded to falling finished steel sales – so their demand for the semis also weakened. Consequently, over March 21-27 daily billet consumption among the 48 local re-rollers Mysteel checks reversed down by 1,600 tonnes/day on week to average 56,600 t/d.
On the other hand, these re-rollers' billet inventories thinned by 50,400 tonnes from the previous week to 369,800 tonnes as of March 27, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, total billet stocks across the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan that Mysteel monitors amounted to 1.1 million tonnes by March 28, lower by 173,400 tonnes on week and marking the fifth on-week decline.
Moreover, the slump in prices of the semis expanded the losses borne by local billet makers, despite the fall in production costs, with the average loss on billet sales endured by the ten integrated mills in Tangshan Mysteel checks deepening by Yuan 10/t on week to Yuan 81/t by March 29.
The average per tonne cost these mills incurred when producing the billets eased by Yuan 100/t on week to Yuan 3,381/t including the 13% VAT last week, the survey found.
Daily billet output among the 24 steelmakers in Tangshan sampled by Mysteel averaged 38,500 tonnes/day over March 22-28, up 1,500 t/d on week, as a few local mills posted higher billet supplies than the previous week, according to the survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
