Posted on 25 Jun 2024
The price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province under Mysteel's assessment had declined by another Yuan 90/tonne ($12.4/t) on week to sit at Yuan 3,300/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of June 23. The enthusiasm of local re-rollers for buying the semis was constrained as many were on the brink of just breaking even amid tepid sales of finished steel, according to the weekly survey.
However, survey respondents said that some re-rollers in Tangshan resumed production after their losses on finished steel sales had eased last week. Over June 13-19, daily billet consumption among the 48 local re-rollers that Mysteel monitors jumped by 21,800 tonnes/day on week to nearly a 1.5-month high of 54,500 t/d on average.
Nonetheless, survey respondents predicted that billet demand would weaken this week due to high finished steel stocks at re-rollers and their slack steel sales.
Re-rollers mainly digested billets stocked at their yards last week, and as a result, billet inventories held by the sampled 48 re-rollers had thinned by 90,500 tonnes on week to 392,000 tonnes as of June 19, according to the survey.
In parallel, total billet inventories across the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan that Mysteel checks had increased further by 47,300 tonnes on week to hit a more than a two-month high of 962,100 tonnes as of June 20. Retail billet stocks had continued to rise due to the slow pace of procurement from re-rollers, sources noted.
As for production, daily billet output among the 25 Tangshan steelmakers Mysteel tracks decreased by 3,000 t/d on week to average 42,000 t/d over June 14-20. "Most mills maintained largely steady billet production last week," remarked a survey respondent.
Meanwhile, the losses on billet sales suffered by the ten integrated mills in Tangshan that Mysteel follows narrowed by Yuan 11/t on week to average Yuan 14/t as of June 21. The average cost the ten mills incurred producing those semis had also dropped by Yuan 71/t on week to Yuan 3,354/t including the 13% VAT last weekChina's BF capacity use rises further to 89.76%.
Source:Mysteel Global
