SHANGHAI — Chinese H-beam export offers fell this week as steelmakers made cuts in an effort to bolster sales.

Base H-beam export offers are now at $570 to $580 per tonne f.o.b., down from $580 to $590 last week, while boron-containing small and medium H-beams for January shipment are between $560 and $565 per tonne f.o.b., down $10 to $15 in the same comparison.

"We reduced export offers a little to push for more sales since overseas buyers didn’t make many purchases previously when prices were higher," an export director at Shandong Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd. told AMM sister publication Steel First, adding that exports rose slightly this week at the latest price levels.

But Shandong Steel isn’t making a profit on overseas sales, he said, as H-beams must be sold at $590 per tonne f.o.b. to break even.

Stiff competition among Chinese steelmakers also is a contributing factor, a Maanshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. export manager said. Several small steelmakers and private players have been selling H-beams at low prices, forcing others to discount.

A softening in H-beam prices and sales volumes in the domestic market this week has steelmakers less confident about maintaining higher export tag.

A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.