Posted on 08 Jul 2025
The fundamentals of the billet market in Tangshan, North China's key steel-producing hub, weakened during the past week, as demand from local re-rollers softened while output remained relatively stable and retail billet stocks accumulated, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.
Daily billet consumption among the 43 re-rollers that Mysteel tracks in Tangshan declined for the second week over June 26-July 2, slipping by 3,900 tonnes/day on week to average 36,400 t/d. Over the survey week, both the capacity utilization and the operational rates of these re-rollers marked the lowest levels so far this year, the results showed.
Local re-rollers appeared circumspect about buying the billets, opting instead to draw down their in-house inventories, according to the survey. As of July 2, billet stocks held by the surveyed re-rollers had thinned by 34,900 tonnes on week to 435,700 tonnes.
On the supply side, daily billet output among the 22 steelmakers in Tangshan that Mysteel monitors slipped by 2,000 t/d on week to average 44,400 t/d over June 27-July 3, as a few mills idled blast furnaces for maintenance. However, daily output may increase in the near term, as some mills are reportedly planning to reduce rolling operations, potentially redirecting hot metal to billet production.
Last week, the average cost when producing billet incurred by the ten major steel mills in Tangshan that Mysteel canvasses retreated further by another Yuan 23/t on week to Yuan 2,774/t including the 13% VAT, while the average profit they earned when selling those semis had reached some Yuan 156/t as of July 4, higher by Yuan 43/t on week, Mysteel's data showed.
As of July 6, the price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, under Mysteel's assessment, remained unchanged from the prior week at Yuan 2,920/t ($407/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT.
In addition, total billet inventories at the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan that Mysteel samples grew for the third straight week last week, rising by 116,700 tonnes on week to hit a 2.5-month high of 944,300 tonnes as of July 3. The increase reflected weaker restocking interest among re-rollers and the arrival of billets designated for export, according to survey respondents.
Source:Mysteel Global
