Posted on 30 Dec 2025
After a small recovery earlier, billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province dropped slightly again last week. On December 28, Mysteel assessed the price of Q235 150mm square billet in the city at Yuan 2,940/tonne ($419/t) EXW including the 13% VAT, lower by Yuan 10/t on week and offsetting the Yuan 10/t price rise over December 15-21, as Mysteel Global reported.
On the supply side, external sales of billets – including export orders – made by the 21 steelmakers in Tangshan and the surrounding area assessed by Mysteel averaged 34,900 tonnes/day over December 19-25, easing by 12.3% or 4,900 t/d on week.
The main reason for the lower billet outflow was that some among the surveyed steelmakers had restarted their rolling mills during the week, consuming more billet internally to produce finished steel items, Mysteel's weekly roundup noted.
On the demand front, re-rollers switched their rolling mills back on after production curbs imposed on them as an anti-pollution measure were lifted, resulting in higher billet demand, Mysteel pointed out.
Steel mills and re-rollers in Tangshan had been required by local authorities to cut production from December 14-20 in response to deteriorating atmospheric smog conditions, as reported.
Over December 18-24, daily billet consumption among the 34 re-rollers under Mysteel's tracking rose by 9.7% or 2,700 t/d on week to 30,500 t/d on average.
Most re-rollers showed little interest in billet replenishment last week and were more inclined to consume existing inventories, leading to higher retail inventories and lower stocks held by the rollers, Mysteel's weekly report noted. The re-rollers were responding to subdued finished steel demand among end-users and their poor profits from finished steel sales during the survey week.
As of December 25, billet stocks stored in the four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan Mysteel tracks had mounted by 3.7% or 46,000 tonnes on week to 1.3 million tonnes.
Billet inventories held by the surveyed re-rollers retreated by 6.2% or 43,500 tonnes on week to 654,000 tonnes as of December 24.
Billet prices are likely to be rangebound this week, Mysteel's report predicts. Local steelmakers are expected to sell more billets as some may halt their own rolling mills for maintenance. On the other hand, billet demand from re-rollers is expected to rise, albeit slightly. Demand is seen being constricted primarily by the low profits the rollers are making from selling finished steel.
Source:Mysteel
