A new deal for 125 mm import billet has been concluded to China recently at a price below $680/mt CFR, as most sellers, usually focusing on sales to the Philippines, have failed to find buyers there and have been trying to push volumes. At the same time, bids for 150 mm billet in China have increased further amid stronger local market and futures prices.
A Russian supplier sold a lot of 125 mm billet from Russia’s Far East to China at $673/mt CFR yesterday, September 2, SteelOrbis has learned. “I think it just shows how weak the Philippines is presently,” a trader said. According to sources, most large customers in the Philippines have finished restocking and current bids for 125-130 mm billet are hardly above $670/mt CFR for October shipment. “Manila liquidity is super poor due to the onset of lockdowns, so a sale to China this low makes sense,” another source said. As was reported earlier this week, a contract for 40,000 mt of 130 mm and 10,000 mt of 160 mm billet from Brazil was done at $665-668/mt CFR to China. The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet to Southeast Asia has been reduced by $5-10/mt, from the level reported in the middle of this week, to $670-675/mt CFR.
The situation in the 150 mm billet segment in China is different with customers ready to pay more. Today, bids for 150 mm billet have increased to $690/mt CFR, up from deals at $685-687/mt CFR early this week. “Very few people use 125 mm size billet, so it is cheap. But today the futures market went up,” a Chinese trader said. Most offers from the ASEAN region have increased to $700-710/mt CFR China. Also, a trade for ex-Indonesia billet has been rumored at $690-695/mt CFR today, though no details have been available at the time of publication.
Local billet prices in Tangshan have added RMB 40/mt ($6/mt) today, reaching RMB 5,060/mt ($784/mt) ex-works, translating to $693/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT. Rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange have added 2.4 percent or RMB 125/mt ($19/mt) today, closing at RMB 5,408/mt ($837/mt).
$1 = RMB 6.4577