WEEKLY: Tangshan billet prices drop further amid pre-holiday lull

Billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province continued to retreat amid a growing supply-demand mismatch this week, with Mysteel assessing the price of Q235 150mm square billet in the city on February 13 at Yuan 2,900/tonne ($420/t) EXW including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 10/t on week.

On one hand, the average volume of billet sold or exported by the 21 steelmakers in Tangshan and the surrounding area regularly checked by Mysteel rose by 5.2% or by about 2,200 tonnes/day on week over February 6-12 to average 44,500 t/d. On the other hand, downstream demand for billets