Prices for steel billet were steady or moved downward in most regions over the week ended Friday August 9 because of reduced prices for iron ore and long steel products, after a rise in the political and trading tensions between China and the United States affected most of the world's ferrous markets.
The markets were also affected by the devaluation of the yuan. The Chinese currency broke the level of 7 yuan to $1 for the first time since 2008 on August 5, following US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 10% tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports from September 1.Iron ore prices showed a sharp drop in response to these events. Fastmarkets' daily index of iron ore 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao, reached $94.12 per tonne on August 8, down from $107.73 per tonne on August 2.Most long steel markets were also weak, bringing pessimism to the billet markets.CIS, TurkeyThe weakening of the long steel markets in most buying regions for CIS-origin billet created pessimism that was intensified by the fall in iron ore prices.The weakened sentiment prevented prices from recovering, and Fastmarkets' steel billet index export, fob Black Sea, CIS, was $411 per tonne on August 9,...