Southeast Asian customers have been more active in import billet purchases recently, with deal prices not changing much. Suppliers have still been insisting on the higher offers voiced last week, and some of them have already achieved a slight increase. Though scrap prices have started to move down, this is unlikely to put big pressure on the Southeast Asian billet market in the near future.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia has remained at $445/mt CFR on average. Fresh deals from Russia’s Far East to the Philippines have been done at $443-445/mt CFR, while the previous transactions were heard at the higher end of the range last week. According to trading sources, there are more inquiries now, but suppliers are still insisting mostly on $450/mt CFR. “Customers can bid, but the question is what level suppliers will accept,” a Manila-based trader said. A negotiation for ex-Middle East billet has been heard at $445-450/mt CFR, but the deal has not been signed yet, according to sources.
A contract for 25,000 mt of ex-Vietnam billet has been signed in Thailand at $445-450/mt CFR. The current level has been assessed by market participants as slightly higher than most customers can accept, but importers had a lack of options due to the slowdown in trading of ex-Iran material. “We received the lowest offers at $445/mt CFR this week,” a Thai buyer said.
Indonesian customers have been bidding at $440/mt CFR, in line with the deal for ex-Malaysia billet done last week, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. “Now offers are at $450/mt CFR, but no takers,” a re-roller from Indonesia said.
Most market participants believe that deals in the coming week will be in the range of $445-450/mt CFR as “customers will need to purchase for March shipment,” a trader said. The influence of the scrap price decline seen in Turkey will have a delayed impact for the Southeast Asian billet market. That is why billet exporters from the Black Sea have restarted offering more actively in Asia, asking for above $450/mt CFR. However, there has been no response from customers so far, as they could find lower prices from other suppliers.