Posted on 18 Jun 2024
Billet prices in North China's Tangshan City continued to lose ground last week, and though a few local re-rollers resumed production their demand for the semis remained at low levels, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
As of June 16, Mysteel's assessment of the Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price had lost Yuan 20/tonne ($2.8/t) on week at Yuan 3,390/t EXW and including the 13% VAT.
Re-rollers in Tangshan procured billets at a slow pace due to their high stocks of finished steel and their meagre profit margins on steel sales, according to the survey. Daily billet consumption among the 48 local re-rollers that Mysteel tracks remained largely stable on week over June 6-12, inching up 200 tonnes/day on week to average 32,700 t/d.
Meanwhile, billet stocks held among the sampled 48 re-rollers had grown by 44,500 tonnes on week to 482,500 tonnes as of June 12, refreshing the highest since end-March last year.
On the supply side, daily billet output among the 25 Tangshan steelmakers Mysteel follows gained by 5,000 t/d on week to 45,000 t/d on average over June 7-13, as mills brought their blast furnaces back on stream while some conducted temporary maintenance on their rolling mills, according to the survey.
However, steelmakers continued losing money when selling billets. The losses on billet sales suffered by the ten integrated mills in Tangshan under Mysteel's coverage averaged Yuan 25/t on June 14, deepening by Yuan 17/t from the previous week.
The average cost the ten mills incurred producing those semis had eased by Yuan 13/t on week to Yuan 3,425/t including the 13% VAT last week, Mysteel's data showed.
Moreover, total billet inventories across the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan Mysteel checks had mounted for the fourth straight week to a two-month high of 914,800 tonnes as of June 13, up 41,600 tonnes on week.
Source:Mysteel Global
