Prices for imported billet have increased over the past week in the Asian region, as already confirmed in deals done to Taiwan. At the same time, despite higher local billet prices in China, import billet activities have failed to improve so far as the tradable prices are still fairly low for most suppliers and overall appetites and the outlook in the Chinese market have been not as good as expected.
A contract for at least 20,000 mt of ex-Russia billet has been heard signed at $510/mt CFR Taiwan over the past week, and, though some market sources believe that this was a contract for vanadium-added material and that the base billet price is not above $500/mt CFR, this is still a strong signal for an uptrend. The previous deal for vanadium-added billet was reported at $490-495/mt CFR to Taiwan in the middle of November.
Offers for ex-Iran billet to Taiwan are expected to increase in the near future. After some sales to Southeast Asia for Iranian origin billet at $485-493/mt CFR a week ago, new indications have been heard at $505/mt CFR minimum.
Ex-ASEAN offers have been among the highest in the current market in Taiwan , at $530-540/mt CFR.
Average local billet prices in China have also posted some gains over the past week, though only small rises. The average billet price in China has reached RMB 3,703/mt ex-warehouse on December 6, up by RMB 20/mt ($3/mt) over the past week and up RMB 35/mt ($5/mt) since last Friday. Stronger rebar prices amid the easing of Covid-19 restrictions have supported billet prices. But this level corresponds to just $470/mt at the current exchange range, excluding 13 percent VAT.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in China has increased to $465/mt CFR, versus $445-460/mt CFR last week. Despite the price increase, there have been no new deals done. “It seems that the [import] slab price is workable for China, if compared with local HRC. But as for billet, I don’t think that they [import offers] have a chance,” a Chinese trader said.