Offers for imported billet in the Southeast Asian market have been limited this week due to the holidays in China and the absence of firm offers from ASEAN region-based mills so far. However, a large number of local mills and traders believe that next week will bring a price decline of about $5-10/mt.
Offers from international traders for open origin 5SP BF billet have been reported at $545/mt CFR Manila this week, but “no one is bidding now,” a local source said, adding that $535/mt CFR will be “a good starting point for offers next week.” There have been no reports about new offers for IF billet, but a few buyers said that the tradable level should not be above the deal prices seen in January. “$525/mt CFR is a reasonable level”, a Manila-based importer said. This price is $5-10/mt below what was seen in negotiations before the holidays.
A trader has offered ex-Indonesia BF billet from a position at $540/mt CFR in the local market, with no response since the market was halted on Wednesday due to elections. The indicative level for ex-Iran billet has been assessed at $530-535/mt CFR in Southeast Asia, taking into account the last sales from mills on FOB basis. But this price will hardly work in the Asian region.
Also, despite some activity for Indian billet exports, offers of this origin to Southeast Asia are still limited. “For Indian IF billet sales, I don't think the destination is Southeast Asia. I think it'll be Sri Lanka or East Africa,” an Asian trader said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has remained at $530-540/mt CFR for now.
