MONTHLY: China's billet prices to strengthen further in Sept

Mounting cost-side pressure and relatively low billet availability will lend steady support to Chinese billet prices in September, according to Mysteel's latest monthly report. But the strength of the rise will depend on the demand recovery among re-rollers, it adds.

Billet output declined last month as steelmakers allocated more hot metal directly to other finished steel items such as rebars and steel strips in their chase for better sales margins. Stoppages for billet caster overhauls also contributed, the report noted. During August, the volume of the semis sold or exported