Posted on 09 Apr 2025
The price of Q235 150mm square billet in North China's Tangshan was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,020/tonne ($413/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT on April 6, lower by Yuan 20/t on week. Local billet production nudged down, while demand stayed largely stable, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Daily billet output among the 23 steelmakers in Tangshan that Mysteel tracks averaged 35,800 tonnes/day over March 28-April 3, falling by a small 1,000 t/d on week.
A few mills curtailed billet production and produced out more finished steel instead due to reasonable margins on the latter, a survey respondent said. He noted that overall billet output remained low.
On the demand side, the capacity utilization rate of re-rollers in Tangshan continued to rise last week, with their demand for the semis touching a nearly two-year high, according to the respondent. Daily billet consumption among the 43 local re-rollers that Mysteel monitors averaged 62,100 t/d over March 27-April 2, up a tiny 200 t/d from the previous week.
Meanwhile, total billet inventories at local retailers thinned for the third straight week last week, with the tonnage in the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan that Mysteel follows down 31,000 tonnes on week to 1.01 million tonnes as of April 3.
On the other hand, the average cost incurred by producing the billet among the ten steel mills in Tangshan that Mysteel checks eased by Yuan 24/t on week to Yuan 2,946/t including the 13% VAT last week, while the average profit they enjoyed when selling those semis rose by a tiny Yuan 4/t on week to Yuan 94/t on April 3.
Source:Mysteel Global
