Prices for imported billet in Southeast Asia have as expected stabilized at last week’s levels, after a number of deals from China and the ASEAN region. Most new offers are stable or slightly higher as a further decline is unlikely give the rebound in futures prices in China.
Last week, following deals for 20,000 mt of ex-China 5SP billet with manganese content of 0.7 percent to the Philippines at $538-540/mt CFR (translates to $535-538/mt CFR Manila as a part of the material will go to Davao), there have been reports that ex-Indonesia 5SP billets have been traded to Manila at $535/mt CFR and $537/mt CFR, also for at least 20,000 mt in total. “This is the material recently purchased by traders from Dexin at $515/mt FOB. I heard that more than 100,000 mt were traded by them, and so the price of $535-538/mt CFR Manila could be still available [from traders who still have positions],” a local source said.
However, most recent offers for 5SP and 3SP billet of Chinese origin have been reported at $540-545/mt CFR to both the Philippines and Indonesia. “Mills are losing money at these numbers and may have to cut production if they continue losing. Whoever had to sell at very low numbers has already done that,” a Singapore-based trader said. The previous deals for ex-China 3SP and 5SP billet to Indonesia were at $535-542/mt CFR depending on the billet quality. “China’s billet price is up, so maybe next week Dexin will follow. But a lot will depend on the direction of futures,” an Indonesian importer said. On Tuesday and Wednesday, rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange were rising steadily, but they are down by 0.66 percent on Thursday, February 29.
Offers for Iranian billet have been rare in Southeast Asia, but buyers are not expecting competitive prices from Iran at least in the near future after two tenders were closed at $507/mt FOB and $510/mt FOB. “We don’t hear firm offers [from Iran] as they will work out to $540/mt CFR or higher here. It is not workable,” a trader in Thailand said. Another source agreed that the lowest offer from a trader for Iranian billet was at $520/mt CFR Indonesia and Thailand last week, but it was based on traders’ bids to some Iranian mills, which were not accepted.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has remained at late last week’s level of $535-540/mt CFR as no deals at higher or lower levels have been done yet.