The price hike attempts of some billet suppliers last week have failed entirely and import prices have resumed their softening this week. Some deals at lower levels have already been done, but demand in general is still slack, SteelOrbis learned from the market on July 7.
A deal for an ex-Indonesia 3SP billet (10,000 mt according to preliminary information) has been signed to Taiwan at $570-572/mt CFR in the past week. “As the finished steel market is very weak, people only buy when they need, and they don’t buy much,” a source from Taiwan said. An offer for ex-Russia base billet has been heard at $575/mt CFR from one seller, which has been assessed as relatively high for the current market. Moreover, some sources report that bids for imported billet from Taiwan have dropped further to $550/mt CFR.
The latest deal to Taiwan is said to be among the lowest. A contract for Indonesian 5SP billet was reported at $580-585/mt CFR as done late last week. At the moment, material of the same grade and origin is available mainly at $580/mt CFR Manila. However, some traders have been offering a short position at $570/mt CFR Manila. “Trading is still very quiet. The market level is $570-580/mt CFR, but with just very little interest,” an international trader said. There is definitely a softening not just in customers’ bids, but in offers too as last week they were in the range of $580-600/mt CFR.
Offers for IF billets, from Vietnam mainly, are at $570-575/mt CFR. A rumour about a sale for IF material at $575/mt CFR early this week has been discussed in the market, but it could not be confirmed by the time of publication, with some traders saying that for IF material “participants wanted $565/mt CFR, because the quality of the material is not so good,” a Manila-based source said.
Indonesia seller Dexin Steel has been offering at $570-575/mt CFR in its local market, while ex-Iran offers are at the same level for both Indonesia and Thailand.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has been lowered by $10/mt over the past week to $570-580/mt CFR.