UK based MEPS said that in China, average provincial billet transaction values declined by 2% in June 2012. Local traders remain divided over the market' future price direction. Offers last declined to current levels in mid July 2010.
MEPS' sources report that the mills have resisted offering discounts and more favorable payment terms, fearing such measures would be counterproductive and only fuel further price instability. They also assert that quotations could fall further before any recovery materializes.
Difficult trading conditions persist in India. Purchase prices, denominated in the national currency, were unchanged, despite an easing in input cost pressures particularly, sponge iron and ferrous scrap material. Steel demand from the construction sector has fallen short of industry expectations. Traders doubt there will be a significant rebound in billet trading volumes in the July and August 2012 period.
Primary steelmakers' nominal selling figures are expected to remain stable in the near term, but offers circulated by secondary producers are likely to shadow the cost of steelmaking raw materials.
The business environment remains challenging in Taiwan, in view of the persistently weak market for finished steel products and the arrival of the country's rainy season. Importers have reservations about placing orders at the moment, amid uncertainties. Traders are pessimistic over the future trend for transaction value in the upcoming summer months