Billet prices in Tangshan city in North China's Hebei Province slipped during the August 18-22 week, according to Mysteel's weekly survey. Both billet production and demand dropped, but stocks showed signs of further accumulation last week.
On August 24, Mysteel assessed the Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price at Yuan 3,040/tonne ($425/t) EXW including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 30/t on week.
On the production side, daily output among the 22 steelmakers in Tangshan under Mysteel's tracking dropped by 2,000 tonnes/day to average 39,000 t/d over August 15-21. Some mills adjusted their production plans to produce more finished steel, while others reduced or suspended production due to environmental reasons and blast furnace maintenance, Mysteel Global noted.
The profits on billet sales earned by the ten integrated mills in Tangshan that Mysteel follows averaged Yuan 98/t on August 22, down from Yuan 155/t on average on August 15. Meanwhile, the per-tonne cost these mills incurred when producing these semis rose further by Yuan 17/t on week to reach Yuan 2,922/t including the VAT last week.
Daily billet consumption among the 43 local re-rollers in Tangshan that Mysteel regularly monitors decreased by 2,100 tonnes/day to average 43,300 t/d over August 14-20.
Most re-rollers in North China will suspend production this week due to government instructions on keeping good air quality, as reported.
As re-rollers in the region are expected to curb operations during August 25-29, they have reduced their pace of procuring the semis in advance and are choosing to consume their current inventories instead, according to an analyst in Shanghai.
Consequently, as of August 20 billet inventories held by the 43 sampled re-rollers totalled 530,300 tonnes, lower by a significant 12% or 72,500 tonnes on week and marking the fourth consecutive on-week drop.
By August 21, the total billet inventories at the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan that Mysteel checks had also declined for the second successive week by 34,800 tonnes on week to total 1.2 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
