A barrage of import steel billet deals have been concluded with Chinese buyers this week at progressively higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 23.
Demand for imported billet has spiked at mills in China amid
targets which would push down steel production in the country over the second half of 2021.
Chinese steelmakers can use import billet to roll long steel products while simultaneously reducing their liquid steel production.
Fastmarkets' price assessment for
steel billet, import, cfr China was assessed at $705-718 per tonne cfr China on Friday, up by $2-3 per tonne from $703-715 the previous week.
Deals at the start of the week were $660 per tonne fob for 10,000 tonnes of Thailand origin, 3sp electric arc furnace (EAF) billet, equivalent to $705 per tonne cfr China.
A lot of 5,000 tonnes of 3sp Japan-origin billet was sold to a Chinese trading house at $715 per tonne cfr China, but sources said the shipment was for October arrival so it was not included in Fastmarkets' price assessment.
A deal for...