FOCUS: Billet import prices in China hit $400 on BF restrictions

摘要

Import prices of steel billet in China have risen to the $400-per-tonne-cfr mark this week on steady demand amid a domestic market strengthened by restrictions imposed on blast furnaces in the country’s steelmaking hub of Tangshan. Local authorities in Tangshan, in northern China’s Hebei province, have instructed mills to cut their blast furnace production rates by 20-50% in June to improve air quality. Only three mills, the only steelmakers in the city to attain grades A and B for emissions standards, are exempted from the restrictions, according to a notice issued by the local government.