The Asian billet market has remained silent this week amid the absence of Chinese traders and mills due to the Lunar New Year holiday and days off work in other countries, like Indonesia where presidential elections are taking place on February 14. However, in general the short-term outlook is far from positive.
Market sources are waiting for new prices from the major mills in the ASEAN region on February 16-20, with a few market sources voicing expectations at $520/mt FOB in offers, down from official offers at $525-530/mt FOB before the holiday. A number of market sources said that the Chinese market will not resume work fully since next Monday as a number of mills will operate at a slow pace and resume normal work from February 26, when all employees will have come back from their home regions. However, “usually futures are up in a few days after the holiday, so why should mills [from ASEAN] cut prices rapidly?” a trader said.
As per the latest reports, the main Indonesian mill and one Malaysian seller have some small share of allocations for late March shipment unsold, while new offers will all be for April shipment.
