WEEKLY: Tangshan billet prices recover slightly on week

Billet prices in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province rose slightly on week during July 6-12, with Mysteel assessing the price of Q235 150mm square billet in the city at Yuan 2,970/tonne ($438/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT on July 12, up by Yuan 10/t on week.

Production of billets declined slightly last week as higher iron ore prices led mill production costs to rise and deepened their losses on billet sales. This prompted more steelmakers to switch their production from billets to finished steel items like hot-rolled coils or steel strips. Consequently, the volume of semis