Local billet prices in China have increased as expected after the long holiday, but the pace of growth has been gradual. As trading in Asia has not picked up yet, ex-ASEAN mills have announced billet offers at the same level as before the Lunar New Year holiday as the previous rise has not been accepted so far, SteelOrbis learned from the market on January 31.
Two mills from Indonesia and Malaysia have been offering billets at $620/mt FOB. Before the holidays these producers hiked offers by $20/mt, but this has not been fixed in deals yet. “The market is slow now. We are waiting for traders’ sales,” an Asian trading source said.
There have been no new offers from Vietnam so far as the major producer there has announced mainly long steel export prices only. Rebar has been offered at $660-670/mt FOB theoretical weight and wire rod at $660/mt FOB. Longs prices from this mill are among the highest compared to Indonesian and Malaysian offers.
Some offers from traders for ex-ASEAN billets, taken in position from mills earlier, have been at $610-620/mt CFR Manila, while last week the tradable level was at $600/mt CFR.
New offers for ex-Russia billet to Taiwan are expected at $600/mt CFR, versus the previous deal at $585/mt CFR as scrap prices are increasing.
Average local billet prices in China are at RMB 3,963/mt ex-warehouse on January 31, up by RMB 38/mt ($6/mt) compared to January 20, the last day before the holiday, but down RMB 25/mt compared to the previous day, the first working day after the holiday. This level translates to $519/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT. In these conditions, the tradable level for imported billet in China has changed only little so far, coming to $520/mt CFR, versus $515-520/mt CFR before the holiday.
$1 = RMB 6.7604
