Chinese domestic steel section prices mostly move down by a slight margin

Chinese domestic steel section prices have mostly continued to soften slightly in the past seven days.

As for billet, prices of the semi-finished steel product in the Chinese domestic market have moved down slightly during the past week. In Tangshan, the current price of Q235 150 x 150 mm square billet is at RMB 3,400/mt ($485/mt), the price of 165 x 225 mm rectangular billet stands at RMB 3,420/mt ($488/mt), while the price of 20MnSi billet is at around RMB 3,500/mt ($499/mt). The prices are all ex-mill and include 13 percent VAT.

Overall trading activity in the local Chinese section steel market has slackened somewhat and is currently considered to be at normal levels. Upstream billet prices have declined by a small margin. Steel section producers have kept their prices mostly stable for now, which provides some support for prices in the spot market. However, with the end of the year approaching, traders are mostly focusing on sales and are willing to offer certain discounts. As for the week ahead, considering the offseason and the fact that supply has not seen any decrease recently, it is believed that local section steel prices may continue to indicate a slight softening.

The prices are all ex-mill, including 13 percent VAT.

$1 = RMB 7.012