Indian mills’ target billet export prices have remained above $510/mt FOB, with sellers uninterested in submitting offers at a time when acceptable prices among Asian buyers are down below the $500/mt FOB mark, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles today, Wednesday, October 11. At the same time, reports of negotiations by Indian mills for importing billets have continued, indicating that the focus will be switched from exports to imports in the near future.
Sources said that the market is looking at an export tender for 30,000 mt of prime concast billet by a government mill scheduled to close today and, while no information is available from the seller, some in trade circles said that they heard that a small number of bids was submitted, none of which are reported to be higher than $480/mt FOB.
They said it was unclear whether the low bids would be accepted or whether the tender would be re-floated, with more information expected to be available at the close of working hours on October 12. As a result, for now the ex-India billet reference price has been lowered to $490-510/mt FOB, versus $505-510/mt FOB last week, given the low bids this week.
“Local mills will have to cut prices aggressively in tandem with ex-China prices to sell overseas. In the Asian and Gulf regions, current workable prices can only be significantly below $500/mt FOB. The main point is how much pressure is on local mills to sell overseas,” a source at an Indian mill said.
“Local sales are reviving, but at a much slower pace. Exports will be reassessed after two to three weeks, by when mills will have a more definitive indication of the local price trend and of the inventory situation as long product sales slow down, and whether overseas sales become an imperative or not. Mills will not rush to lower ex-India prices. It will be a strategy considered from multiple options,” the source said.
At the same time, in the import billet market, after the previous sales at near $520-530/mt CFR for sizable lots of Asian origin billets, market sources said that buyers are insisting on around $510-515/mt CFR, with no new deals reported so far this week.
Meanwhile, in the local market, trade billet prices have gained INR 200/mt ($2/mt) over the past week to INR 45,700/mt ($549/mt) ex-Mumbai, which, however, is slightly below the highest level seen last week at INR 46,000/mt ex-Mumbai. The price is also up INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 43,200/mt ($519/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
