Posted on 12 Jun 2024
Billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province eased for a second week during June 3-9, with the market mood turning cautious and re-rollers showing limited enthusiasm for buying the semis due to high stocks of finished steel, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
As of June 9, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan under Mysteel's assessment had slipped by Yuan 60/tonne ($8.3/t) on week to Yuan 3,410/t EXW and including the 13% VAT.
The price slip caused local steelmakers to again suffer negative margins on selling billets. By June 7, the losses on billet sales suffered by the ten main integrated mills in Tangshan Mysteel follows averaged Yuan 8/t, as against their average profit of Yuan 44/t the previous week.
Overall demand for billets weakened slightly during the May 30-June 5 survey week, as daily billet consumption among the 48 re-rollers in Tangshan under Mysteel's tracking declined for the third straight week, falling by 5,600 tonnes/day on week to average 32,500 t/d.
Meanwhile, the billet stocks held by these surveyed re-rollers mounted for the second week, rising by 15,800 tonnes on week to 438,000 tonnes as of June 5, as some re-rollers had recently intensified billet procurement in response to improved finished steel sales, according to the survey.
On the supply side, a few local mills had idled blast furnaces for temporary maintenance, causing total billet production to edge down last week. Daily billet output among the 25 Tangshan steelmakers Mysteel checks shed 3,100 t/d on week during May 31-June 6 to average 40,000 t/d.
Moreover, retailers' billet stocks increased further last week due to the continuing slow pace of procurement by re-rollers, with the total inventories across the four commercial warehouses and two ports Mysteel canvasses growing for the third consecutive week, swelling by 12,200 tonnes on week to reach 873,200 tonnes as of June 6.
Source:Mysteel Global
