- High production costs pile pressure on mills
- Inventory declining but demand recovery uncertain
Chinese billet prices fell by RMB 10/t ($1/t) d-o-d to RMB 3,030/t ($452/t) on 10 September, while SHFE rebar futures declined by RMB 19/t ($3/t) to RMB 3,078/t ($459/t). The declines reflected weaker market sentiment and limited improvement in end-user demand. Mills were facing increasing cost pressure and some were considering production cuts, while the unclear October outlook limited buying interest. Despite some inventory reduction and daily rebar trading of around 90,000 t, demand signals remained weak.
Meanwhile, billet export offers increased by $4/t d-o-d to $470/t FOB, as mills maintained their base offers amid limited export-market activity rather than aggressively lowering prices. With export allocations still available and domestic prices under cost pressure, mills appeared reluctant to make significant price concessions in the export market.
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