Prices for imported billet in Southeast Asia have remained high after the hike before China’s holiday in early October. Most buyers have remained inactive as sentiments in China have been mixed and they have been waiting to see if traders will return with lower short position offers or not. At the same time, ex-Russia billet has remained in demand in Taiwan amid less competitive offers from both China and the ASEAN region.
Offers for 3SP and 5SP to the Philippines have been at $490-500/mt CFR and $495-510/mt CFR respectively. “Not many traders are offering at the moment. It is difficult to go short now,” a Manila-based source said. Some sources believe that it is possible to get discounts of $5/mt or slightly more in case of serious negotiations, but buyers have still been staying away. "I can buy at $490/mt CFR [for 5SP] today if we talk about Chinese billet, but this is still too high," an importer said.
In Indonesia and Thailand, there has also been minimal trading activity and the tradable level has been assessed at $490-495/mt CFR for 3SP billet, taking into account the lowest offers heard.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has declined slightly on average by $5/mt over the past week to $490-495/mt CFR with the midpoint at $492.5/mt CFR.
In Taiwan, the latest deal was done for ex-Russia billet at $485/mt CFR for late December-January shipment. This is significantly higher than bookings done at $445-450/mt CFR in the middle of September. At the moment, offers from China have been less competitive, at $490-495/mt CFR.
