Saudi Arabia registered 128,436 tonnes of square billet imports from China in March compared to zero in March 2015, according to General Authority for Statistics data monitored by Kallanish.

Ukraine-origin square billet imports also surged in March, by 189% on-year to 79,856t. This took Saudi imports of semi-finished products – over 99% of which were square billet – up 6% on-year in the first quarter to 356,688t, after January-February saw a -48% on-year decline.

China was Saudi’s main billet supplier in Q1 with an 87% surge in deliveries to 168,707t. It was followed by Brazil which supplied 96,270t versus zero in Q1 2015, and Ukraine despite a -49% decline to 79,856t. Malaysia supplied 10,088t versus zero in the year-earlier quarter. Egypt, however, supplied zero versus 43,983t, same base.

Imports of billet other than square, meanwhile, fell to 334t versus 40,149t in Q1 2015. Bahrain was the biggest casualty, as its supply fell to zero versus 39,415t.

Saudi Arabian steelmaker Sabic’s crude steel production slid -7% on-year to 400,000t in March. Taking into account the surge in billet imports, it is clear Saudi mills preferred to use merchant billet that month rather than produce crude steel.

Saudi Arabian imports of rebar and wire rod declined in Q1, by -13% to 200,302t (see Kallanish 14 June). Crude steel output at Saudi’s largest steelmaker, Sabic, declined -21.6% in Q1 to 1.18 million tonnes, according to worldsteel data.