Bids for ex-India billet have continued to go down over the past week in a tender from a government-run producer, but no deals have been heard in the market as most offers are too high for buyers, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, April 20.
Ex-India billet prices as surveyed by SteelOrbis have remained at $730-740/mt FOB, stable from last week, which is something in between the latest bids in the state-owned mill’s tender and sellers’ lowest possible price ideas. At the same time, while last week $730-740/mt FOB tradable prices were considered as more or less competitive (in line with offers of ex-ASEAN billet in the Asian region), this week bids for Indian billet have fallen to $720/mt FOB and below.
Industry sources said that a government-run mill which held an export tender for 30,000 mt prime concast billet on Tuesday this week is heard to have received a highest bid of $710-720/mt FOB, much lower than the internal target price of the seller. “I doubt Indian mills will sell anywhere close to that. I think $770/mt FOB is probably the lowest,” a trader said.
Also, recent increases in import coking coal prices, from Australia in particular, are preventing Indian suppliers from making any sharp drops in prices. According to sources, Indian IF billet producers are unlikely to offer below $780-800/mt FOB now.
“Sellers are struggling to close deals after submitting offers as buyers are seeking deep discounts as there are a lot of alternative sourcing choices. Demand for ex-India billets in China has dried up completely, while buyers in the MENA region are only interested if offers are discounted,” a source at a government-run mill said.
“The rise in domestic merchant sale prices of semis is offering some support to mills in checking inventory issues,” the source said.
Local billet prices have edged up INR 500/mt ($7/mt) to INR 63,000/mt ($826/mt) ex-Mumbai and by INR 200/mt ($3/mt) to INR 58,600/mt ($768/mt) ex-Raipur in central regional market.
$1 = INR 76.26