WEEKLY: Tangshan billet prices ease further on week

Billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province dropped for the third consecutive week during May 25-31, with Mysteel assessing the price of Q235 150mm square billet in the city at Yuan 3,020/tonne ($446/t) EXW including the 13% VAT on May 31, down by Yuan 60/t on week.

The drop in billet prices allowed the profitability of billet-rolled finished steel items to recover, which led local re-rollers to ramp up production and accordingly, replenish some stocks at low prices, Mysteel noted in its weekly report. Consequently, daily billet consumption among the 34 re-rollers in Tangshan monitored by Mysteel averaged 46,600 tonnes/day over May 21-27, jumping by 17.1% or