Billet prices in most global markets were under pressure during the week ended Friday March 1 due to a decrease in raw materials prices and weak demand in the finished long steel segment.
Customers preferred to take a wait-and-see approach, which spurred billet suppliers to cut prices further.The exception in the global market was China, where demand was rather vivid, pushing prices upward in a week-on-week comparison.ChinaPrices in the Chinese domestic billet market were at 3,490 yuan ($521) per tonne on Friday, 60 yuan per tonne higher than a week earlier.The spot market inventory for billet in Tangshan was at 680,000 tonnes on Friday, up 17,000 tonnes from the prior week, according to a billet trader in Tangshan who had gotten word from a local industry information provider.China didn't offer billet to foreign customers during the week. A few sources noted that, had material been offered for export, the price would have been $485-490 per tonne fob.AsiaSoutheast Asian steel billet import prices changed little during the week ended March 1 due to sparse activity.Offers from traders for billet from Russia's Far East were...