Trading activity in the Asian billet market has been focused on China recently, while demand in Southeast Asia has dropped further due to the lockdown in the Philippines and quarantine in other countries. Rare bids from Southeast Asia have been heard below $400/mt CFR.
About 40,000 mt of billet from Russia’s Far East have been sold at about $405/mt CFR China recently, following a booking of 20,000 mt of ex-Indonesia semis at $405-410/mt CFR China reported last week. “Demand from China is the only good thing,” an Asian trader said, commenting on the situation in the import billet market in the region. Average local billet prices in China have added RMB 70/mt ($10/mt) to RMB 3,275/mt ($468/mt) ex-warehouse over the past week.
At the same time, trading activity in Southeast Asia has been almost at a standstill as some mills in the Philippines, located in Luzon, have suspended operations due to a lockdown. Bids from Thailand and Indonesia have been heard at $390-395/mt CFR at the highest, while the lowest of them have also been heard at $375-380/mt CFR. “The government just ordered the cancellation of big gathering events like Songkran (typical Thai New Year on April 13-15) this year. Mills here will stop operations if there is no business or they run out of cash, or try to stabilize prices and not work at a loss,” a Bangkok-based billet importer said. Local induction furnace billet in Thailand is available at THB 12,300/mt ($379/mt) ex-works. "Buyers in Indonesia are out of the market due to flooding and the upcoming Ramadan," a local source said. Another buyer added that the local currency in Indonesia has dropped by seven percent over the past two weeks, making imports of billet unreasonable.
Offers of ex-Russia billet have been mainly heard at $410/mt CFR, prices from regional suppliers (Vietnam, Malaysia) at $405/mt CFR, while prices from Iran have been heard at $400-405/mt CFR to Southeast Asia.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia has lost $5-10/mt and has come to $405/mt CFR.
