Posted on 19 Sep 2024
The price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province, the country's largest steel production hub, rebounded by Yuan 160/tonne ($22.6/t) on week to Yuan 2,900/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of September 15, Mysteel's assessment showed.
Re-rollers in Tangshan saw their profit margins on finished steel sales improve last week, and this, coupled with better steel sales, prompted them to crank up production which in turn required them to procure more semis than during the previous week, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Futures prices of Chinese ferrous commodities including rebar also strengthened last week, which also buoyed steel market sentiment, the survey findings showed.
Daily billet consumption among the 48 re-rollers in Tangshan under Mysteel's tracking over September 5-11 reversed up 3,700 tonnes/day on week to average 36,700 t/d, indicating their demand for the billets increased last week.
Meanwhile, active billet buying saw total billet stocks across the 48 re-rollers in Tangshan that Mysteel checks mount by some 86,500 tonnes on week to 514,000 tonnes as of September 11.
On the supply side, daily billet output among the 23 steelmakers in Tangshan Mysteel monitors declined by 3,000 t/d on week to average 33,000 t/d over September 6-12, as some mills conducted temporary maintenance on blast furnaces.
Lower output and rising replenishment demand saw total billet inventories across the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan followed by Mysteel to thin by 83,900 tonnes on week to 1.4 million tonnes as of September 12.
On the other hand, the average cost incurred by the ten major mills in Tangshan that Mysteel canvasses fell by Yuan 46/t on week to Yuan 3,055/t including the 13% VAT last week, while the losses on billet sales suffered by the ten mills had eased by a large Yuan 196/t on week to Yuan 145/t on September 13.
Source:Mysteel Global
