Posted on 07 Jul 2025
Chinese billet prices have risen after the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) expressed concern over Chinese billet exports surging this year and called for restrictions, Kallanish notes. The price uptick may not last, though, because of demand weakness, Chinese trading sources say.
CISA formally called on the Chinese authorities to impose restrictions on billet exports on 30 June after noting that these exports had risen rapidly since the start of the year (see Kallanish passim).
CISA is concerned that this trend goes against Chinese industry’s goals of energy conservation, decarbonisation and green transition.
Chinese billet exports during January-May reached 4.72 million tonnes, a massive increase of 305.7% year-on-year, according to CISA data.
In May alone, China exported 1.37mt of billet, a 74.9% increase month-on-month. Philippines was the top destination at 184,000t, up 77.3%, while Indonesia took in 181,000t, up 4.5%.
For January-May, around 1mt of Chinese billet were shipped to Indonesia, making the latter the biggest recipient.
Meanwhile, Chinese billet export prices rose after some Chinese traders bought 3sp grade 150mm square billet at around $422/tonne fob last Thursday from one mill in southern China to cover their billet short positions. The day after, 3sp 150mm Chinese billet offers rose by around $7/t week-on-week to some $430/t fob, while the most traded, October rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped CNY 77/t on-week.
Some traders however expressed doubts over whether billet prices will continue to rise. Although it is currently the off-season for construction, steel billet sales margins remain good. If prices continue to rise, this may lead to an increase in billet inventories, they say.
Source:Kallanish
