The situation in the Southeast Asian billet market has worsened over the past week as demand has dropped to almost zero after the previous deals because of some restocking. The fresh lockdown in the Philippines, starting from August 6, is likely to restrict demand for rebar and also for import billet as a result.
The latest offers for EAF/BOF billet from the ASEAN region have been reported at $710-715/mt CFR Manila, down from the tradable level at $725/mt CFR last week. Some offers for billet from Russia’s Far East region have remained at $730/mt CFR, which does not reflect the market level, sources have said. “But there are no bids even at $705-710/mt CFR. There are no bids at all,” a trading source said. “Restocking is done for September and maybe onwards,” another local source from the Philippines said.
The lowest offer prices in the market have been for IF billet from India and Vietnam at $680-685/mt CFR to the Philippines, but no fresh deals have been reported so far. “The business mood is just dull,” a local re-roller said, adding that the fresh lockdown in the Manila metropolitan area for two weeks starting from August 6 will put big pressure on steel consumption. The Manila area will return to lockdown mode from August 6 to August 20 with only essential establishments and industries to be allowed to work. These measures should prevent a surge of the Delta variant Covid-19 cases in the country.
In other Southeast Asian countries, import billet demand has also remained very poor. “With today’s rebar price, the billet should be at $650-660/mt CFR,” a source from Thailand said. Some customers who will have some urgent need may consider $680/mt CFR in both Thailand and Indonesia, sources have said, but for now inquiries are still very limited.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet (excluding IF) in Southeast Asia has dropped by $20/mt on average over the past week, fully offsetting the rise seen last week, coming to $700-710/mt CFR.