Chinese customers have restarted imported billet purchases after a short pause, receiving lower prices from Vietnamese and Indian suppliers.
A contract with the main BF-based Vietnamese billet supplier was signed at $404-405/mt FOB last week, which translates to $412/mt CFR China, with the sale volume estimated by market sources at about 20,000 mt. There have been some rumours about a sale at below $410/mt CFR from Vietnam, but a number of sources have failed to confirm it by the time of publication. The previous deal from the major exporter from Vietnam was at about $415/mt CFR.
Also, there have been reports of sales from India. Chinese traders confirmed a deal at $403/mt CFR. This level is almost in line with $412/mt CFR from Vietnam, because Southeast Asian billet does not have a two percent import duty. Moreover, Indian producers said that there have been more than one deal and over the past five working days Indian integrated steel mills have managed to book some 75,000 mt, mainly to Chinese traders. The price for other deals has been close to $400/mt CFR China, SteelOrbis has learned from the suppliers’ side. Early last week, offers from India were at $415/mt CFR or so, but “even $405/mt CFR is not workable today,” a trader said.
Apart from Vietnam and India, offers for imported billet have been at relatively high levels and it has not been easy to reach deals, according to Chinese sources. Black Sea region-based suppliers have been rejecting any prices below $380/mt FOB recently, which translates to $408-410/mt CFR China.
Local billet prices in China have been stable since Friday. Prices in Tangshan have remained at RMB 3,310/mt ($467/mt) ex-works. At the same time, futures prices for rebar have lost RMB 9/mt ($1.3/mt) today, June 22, to RMB 3,620/mt ($511/mt), putting pressure on bids for imported billet.
Chinese customers will exit the market late this week due to the Dragon Boat Festival on Thursday, June 25.
