Chinese billet and rebar exporters back to SE Asian market as prices drop

摘要

Chinese local steel prices dropped again over the week on the expectations of higher winter production. Exportershope to come back to the international market with more competitive prices soon.On Friday, November 9, most Tangshan-based mills offered billet at RMB 3,800/t ($548/t) EXW, an RMB 100/t ($14/t)decline over the week. The flexibility of winter production curbs plan was the main negative factor. Market insidersexpect the output to stay high in the coming months, as city authorities will set the restrictions by themselves. Anotheralarming signal was the 11.2% rise of iron ore imports in October. “Bigger inflow of raw materials means mills haveambitious production plans for the near future, which will push market prices down,” an analyst at China’s major steelmakingcompany told Metal Expert.