There have been more deals for Asian origin billets reported in the market by the end of this week. Prices have been mainly stable in most contracts, though, for some buyers, suppliers have provided small discounts.
The main Indonesian mill Dexin Steel has sold a cargo of 30,000 mt of billet at $515/mt FOB, which is down $5/mt from the offers reported this week. The material is for the South American market, according to a few sources. Also, there has been information about a deal for a trader’s position at the same FOB level for April shipment. “Dexin still indicates billet offers at $520/mt FOB. We need to have a look at the Chinese market next week,” a Chinese trader said. The previous deals before the holidays were done at $521-525/mt FOB Indonesia.
Trading from China has also been more active. Around 20,000 mt of ex-China 5SP billet with manganese content of 0.7 percent and above have been sold at $538-540/mt CFR to the Philippines, but at least one source said that this will go not only to Manila, but to Davao, where freight is usually at least $5/mt higher, making the real CFR price close to $535-538/mt CFR.
An ex-China deal for 3SP billet has been heard at $535/mt CFR Indonesia, in line with the offer reported early in the week. Moreover, a small volume of 5SP billet has changed hands at $540/mt CFR Indonesia. In addition to this, in the local Indonesian market, one of the producers traded in total 40,000 mt of both 3SP and 5SP (with different manganese contents) at the average price of $542/mt CFR early this week.
While Thai buyers have remained absent from billet imports, a few inquiries have been reported from Malaysia, and market sources said there have been negotiations by large Asian traders at $535/mt CFR Malaysia. “They [the buyer] are going for a maintenance shutdown, so they will import a couple of billets lots,” a trader said.
In general, cautious optimism has emerged in the Asian billet market by the end of the week, with some stabilization of iron ore prices and an improvement of local demand in China awaited next week. The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet has been corrected up slightly by $2.5/mt on average to $535-540/mt CFR, taking the latest deals into account.
