The Chinese import market for steel billet continued its rapid climb over the past seven days, with healthy demand being supported by soaring steel prices in the country.
Chinese steel prices have spiked again this week, with hot-rolled coil prices
setting domestic records and
rebar prices leaping closer to 2008's all-time highest level.
At the heart of the latest rise in rebar prices have been expectations that
crude steel output will be squeezed in the second half of 2021 to satisfy government rules on maximum steel production levels, together with restrictions to new steel capacity in the country.
With
demand for rebar from the construction sector in China also solid, prices for steel billet, which is a ready-made replacement for producing long steel from a furnace, have prospered in the country over recent months. The sharp movements since China's return from its Labor Day holidays on Thursday have been no exception.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel billet domestic, exw Tangshan, Northern China was 5,190 yuan ($802) per tonne on Friday May 7, up 70 yuan per...