WEEKLY: Tangshan billet prices drop further on week

Billet prices in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province continued softening during the week of October 19-25, with Mysteel assessing the price of Q235 150mm square billet in the city at Yuan 2,920/tonne ($438/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT on October 25, down by Yuan 30/t on week.

Billet supply contracted sharply last week as several local steelmakers temporarily hot idled their blast furnaces for maintenance, a Mysteel analyst noted. Specifically, the tonnage of billet sold or exported by the 21 steel mills in Tangshan and surrounding regions under Mysteel's tracking plunged by 18.7% or 6,200 tonnes/day on