Long steel producers in the Philippines have been purchasing import billet steadily over the past week due to their need to replenish stocks. Prices have posted minimal changes as most buyers have been resisting further increases so far. Customers from other Southeast Asian countries have remained inactive, bidding at lower levels.
A number of sources have confirmed that ex-Russia billet has been sold at $605/mt CFR to the Philippines, which is among the highest levels for Manila for now. Also, one rumour indicated that a lot of billet has been traded at $600/mt CFR to Cebu, which corresponds to about $595/mt CFR Manila. One re-roller has also confirmed that a small-volume contract for Russian material has been transacted at $590-600/mt CFR this week. In total, not less than 50,000 mt of Russian billet have been sold over the past week to Southeast and East Asia, excluding China.
Demand has shown some improvements in the Philippines, but this has been mainly due to the long pause in buying earlier this month, according to sources. “The market is still not good in terms of billet purchases. It is hard to make plans for April too,” a local source said.
Most offers have been above $600/mt CFR from BOF-based producers to Southeast Asia. An offer for 15,000 mt of Indian 5SP billet has been at $605/mt CFR Manila this week, but no deal has been confirmed. Also, ex-Vietnam 5SDP billet have been on offer at $610/mt CFR to the Philippines for May shipment. Some offers for June shipment billet have increased up to $615-620/mt CFR, sources have said.
Demand in other countries in Southeast Asia, like Indonesia and Thailand, has not improved and bids are still far below $600/mt CFR. Offers for Iranian billet have been mainly at $600/mt CFR and above, but it is hard to find a buyer even at $590/mt CFR in Indonesia and Thailand, sources have added.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia has remained at last week’s level of $595-610/mt CFR.