Rising long steel prices and futures prices in China since last Friday have continued to provide support for import billet prices. Suppliers have already started to ask for above $700/mt CFR, expecting this level to be reached very soon.
The latest offers for ex-ASEAN BF/EAF billet suppliers (from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand) to China have been reported at $675-680/mt FOB on Monday, July 12, which translates to around $700-710/mt CFR.
According to a few market sources, the major Vietnamese seller has already managed to fix $672/mt FOB in a deal after signing a contract at $668/mt FOB late on Thursday last week. The price of $672/mt FOB translates to $697-700/mt CFR depending on freight costs. And though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication, a source from Vietnam said that this would be a good deal for the customer, as “there was a bid at $677/mt FOB today, but Hoa Phat rejected it.”
Though suppliers are more bullish now and there are supportive factors for this, most Chinese buyers are still not ready to accept a price at above $700/mt CFR. “Chinese buying prices are at $695/mt CFR,” a large international trader said. “I think $700/mt CFR is already achievable, but hardly above,” another source said.
On Monday, July 12, local billet prices in Tangshan were at RMB 5,130/mt ($793/mt) ex-works, up by RMB 110/mt ($17/mt) from Friday. The level corresponds to $702/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT.
The tradable price level for import 5SP billet in China has reached $695-702/mt CFR on Monday, up by $8/mt on average from $685-696/mt CFR on Thursday last week.
Ex-Thailand IF billet was sold to China at $675/mt CFR last week.
Two Indian tenders for 30,000 mt each of 150 mm billet were closed last week, sources said, and these materials are expected to be sold to China, according to sources. In addition, another Indian mill sold 19,000 mt of 125 mm billet at around $600/mt FOB, which is expected to find an end-user in the Philippines.
$1 = RMB 6.4695