Local Chinese semi-finished steel prices mostly increase

As of April 17, Chinese domestic billet prices have mostly increased week on week, though with billet prices in Jiangyin now lower compared to one week ago, while transaction activity in the market has been at medium levels. Average prices of steel billet and slab in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.

During the given week, domestic rolling mills’ capacity utilization rates have been higher than in the previous week due to better transaction activity in the finished steel market, which has boosted demand for semi-finished steel. Meanwhile, semi-finished steel inventories have declined, resulting in purchases by downstream users aimed at replenishing their stocks. Moreover, ferrous metal futures prices in China moved up in the first part of the given week, providing some support for semi-finished steel prices, though futures prices declined in the latter part of the week, which may negatively influence semi-finished steel prices. It is thought that semi-finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 17 percent VAT.
 
$1 = RMB 6.28