Today, November 30, the leading Indonesian mill has cut its official billet offers by $10/mt to $515/mt FOB for base 3SP grade. The highest deal price level has reached $520/mt FOB in one sale to Latin America. However, in general, ASEAN mills have faced a slowdown in demand and most material for January shipment is still unsold. “They claimed they closed December [shipment order books], but they can still offer small volumes to be shipped in late December,” an Asian trader said.
There have been no new deals at lower levels yet, and market sources said that traders will try to get material at below $510/mt FOB in the new round of bookings. The previous bookings were done at $510-520/mt FOB, but mainly closer to the lower end of the range.
Malaysian billet offers have been limited, but, with the current decline from Indonesia, the real level is at $510-515/mt FOB. “It seems that the uptrend is finished for now,” a Chinese trader said.