Posted on 03 Sep 2024
Billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province fluctuated during the August 26-September 1 week, according to Mysteel's weekly survey. Production of the semis declined moderately last week, while looking ahead, demand from re-rollers may be restrained due to the production curbs placed on them since August 30, survey respondents said.
As of September 1, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 2,930/tonne ($412/t) EXW including the 13% VAT, rising by Yuan 30/t from the previous week.
Over August 23-29, billet production among the 23 steelmakers in Tangshan under Mysteel's tracking slipped by 8,100 tonnes/day on week to average 35,900 t/d. During the period, a few billet producers had commenced maintenance on blast furnaces, while other mills had also resumed operations on their rebar rolling mills, respondents explained.
On the demand side, daily billet consumption among the 48 re-rollers in Tangshan that Mysteel follows fell by 2,600 t/d on week to 34,200 t/d on average over August 22-28, as the overall capacity utilization rate of these re-rollers remained low.
Consequently, billet inventories held by the 48 sampled re-rollers mounted by 114,000 tonnes on week to 487,500 tonnes as of August 28, according to Mysteel's data.
The average loss on billet sales borne by the ten integrated mills in Tangshan that Mysteel monitors stood at Yuan 200/t on August 30, smaller by Yuan 84/t on week. The per-tonne cost these mills incurred when producing those semis also narrowed by Yuan 24/t on week to Yuan 3,160/t including the VAT.
On the other hand, total billet inventories across the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan that Mysteel canvasses rose by another 113,700 tonnes on week to 1.46 million tonnes as of August 29.
Source:Mysteel Global
