Posted on 14 Apr 2021
The tightness of billet supplies in Tangshan, home to over 100 steel re-rollers, has eased slightly thanks to deliveries from other regions in China and from shipper abroad, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
“Although imported (billet) products are not arriving in large volumes, they have helped to balance the supply and demand,” said a market source based in this top steel-producing city in North China’s Hebei province. Mysteel estimates that during this month alone, over 400,000 tonnes of billets will flow into the Tangshan market from other regions and from overseas.
“Those imported billets are cheaper than local supplies, and they are exerting downward pressure on Tangshan billet prices and limiting further growth,” she said, noting that the sales prices of imported billets are Yuan 30-50/tonne ($4.6-7.6/t) below prices of local supplies.
As of April 9, the Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price was Yuan 5,040/tonne EXW and including the 13% VAT, higher by another Yuan 80/t on week and refreshing the 12.5-year high.
Nevertheless, the supply gap still exists as the operations of steel re-rollers remains normal, with their daily billet consumption over April 1-7 averaging 985,000 tonnes/day, up another 1,000 t/d on week, the survey results show. On the other hand, daily billet supplies from 29 mills in the Tangshan region averaged only 14,500 t/d, down further by 7,500 t/d on week.
Subsequently, in the short term local billet inventories are expected to decline further. Last week as of April 8, billet stocks at 14 trading houses including two ports – Caofeidian and Jingtang – totalled 201,300 tonnes, down by another 27,900 tonnes or 11.8% on week, though this was slower than on-week decline of 50.8% in the prior survey period.
Meanwhile, billet stocks at 53 steel re-rollers surveyed by Mysteel totalled 371,700 tonnes as of April 7, down by another 59,800 tonnes or 13.9% on week and lower for a fifth week, according to the latest survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
