Tangshan billet prices fall while stocks hit eight-month high

As of November 26, the price of Q235 150 mm square billet in Tangshan decreased by 30 Yuan/ton ($4.2/ton) on a weekly basis to reach 3,630 Yuan/ton EXW including 13% VAT.

Daily billet consumption at 55 pallet re-rollers in Tangshan averaged 48,500 tons/day from November 16-22, down 14,300 tons/day from the previous week. The drop in billet demand during the survey period was attributed to several rolling mills suspending production to reduce air pollution.

Re-rollers primarily used billets at their own sites during the week, which resulted in billet stocks at 55 re-rollers sampled from November 16-22 falling by 18,200 tons to 380,500 tons.

Meanwhile, billet production at 30 steel mills in Tangshan fell last week, with billet output averaging 44,000 tons/day from November 17-23. This represents a drop of 3,500 tons/day compared to the previous week. Local mills preferred to produce finished steel products rather than semi-products due to better profit margins after the sale of semi-products.

The slowdown in supplies led to an increase in total billet stocks at four commercial warehouses and two ports in Tangshan. Inventories rose 64,500 tons week-on-week to 1.28 million tons as of November 23, the highest level in almost eight months.