The sharp rises seen in the local Chinese billet market have caused Chinese billet buyers to accelerate their price inquiries for import billet. Market sources state that Iranian suppliers are busy giving offers to their export markets and have concluded billet sales to China, while their offers to this destination are currently at $485-490/mt FOB. On the other hand, additional costs such as the freight, import billet tax (two percent) and VAT generally cause Chinese buyers to stay away from imports unless they experience great difficulties in terms of billet supply.