Chinese Domestic Billet Market Update, 17 Mar'20

Yesterday the ex-mill tax-inclusive price of general carbon billet in Tangshan, Changli and Qian'an were settled at RMB 3,170/MT, down RMB 20; Today, steel market turns week and transactions on billets is modest on the whole while prices of finished steel tend to slip. Mill's direct delivery is modest. The warehouse spot is mainly offered at RMB 3,250/MT tax-inclusive with cautious transactions. The billet inventory at warehouses of Xiangyu zhengfeng, Haiyi Hongrun, Wuchan Zhenxiang, and Sumec Xincheng totaled 896,400 MT, down 11,300 MT from a day earlier; the overall transactions on finished steel are modest, though certain categories traded well. It is expected that billet prices in the afternoon may go down by RMB 10-20.