Prices for imported billet in Southeast Asia have fallen sharply this week, following the downtrend in the scrap segment and more offers at lower levels. A few deals have been done recently at a much lower level, but the majority of buyers are in wait-and-see mode.
The SteelOrbis reference price for billet in Southeast Asia has dropped $10-13/mt over the week to $425-430/mt CFR.
A deal for 30,000 mt of Russian billet (100 mm) has been done at $431/mt CFR to the Philippines. Moreover, Asian sources have reported on a deal for large volume of ex-Turkey billet at $425/mt CFR, also to the Philippines. Though the contract has not been confirmed by the time of publication, a number of sources agreed that it was “most probably true as it is the current market level.” Offers for ex-CIS billet from both Far East ports of Russia and from the Black Sea region, as well as from Southeast Asian sellers, have declined to $430-435/mt CFR, from $440/mt CFR last week. “Distressed [Russian] cargoes were traded at a lower level [than $430/mt CFR],” a Manila-based re-roller said. Another buyer confirmed than, though there have been no direct sales from CIS-based mills at below $430/mt CFR so far, traders have been trying to sell position cargoes.
Offers of Vietnamese billet have been heard at $428/mt CFR to Indonesia. “There are no deals in Indonesia. The market is bad,” a source from Jakarta said. Prevailing offers from the CIS and Southeast Asia have been at $430-435/mt CFR Thailand.
Offers for ex-Iran billet have also declined - by $10/mt to $415-420/mt CFR, but no new deals have been reported.
