Sentiment in China's import market for steel billet warmed on Tuesday October 26 following a more solid performance by ferrous futures markets and reports of better power supply in the east of the country.
Physical rebar and billet prices remained flat in key Chinese local markets on Tuesday, while the most-traded January rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) closed at 4,917 yuan ($770) per tonne on the day, up by 92 yuan per tonne from Monday.
Although there was still very little spot trading activity in the China import billet market on Tuesday, sell-side sources said that the numbers of buying inquiries from Chinese traders had picked up compared with Friday and Monday.
"The Chinese market is still quiet, and we don't see much buying interest this week. The market level is around $660-670 per tonne cfr China today," a key China buyer source said on Tuesday.
"But coal supply will improve in China, which means that there will be reduced power cuts in many places, so maybe the market will get better," he added.
"Today, the market was...