Prices in most of the global markets for steel billet dropped sharply in the week ended Friday August 30 amid unfavorable market conditions – in particular, poor demand and falling scrap prices.
China
Weakening demand for billet continued to push Chinese domestic billet prices down, sources said.
Re-rolling mills in Tangshan were expected to reduce their production in September and early October to help improve air quality during China’s National Day holiday, which will run October 1-7. This meant that they were not actively buying billet, sources said.
Tangshan billet prices were heard at 3,340 yuan ($467) per tonne on Friday, down by 80 yuan per tonne from a week before.
The Tangshan spot market had billet inventories of 432,000 tonnes on Friday, up by 32,000 tonnes from a week earlier, a local trader said, quoting an industry information provider.
Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, the quiet market was made worse by the loss in value of the currency of the main buying country of the region, the Philippines, as well as the rainy season, which was expected to last until the end of the year.
The Philippine Atmospheric,…