Chinese customers have remained active in the import billet market, which has led to higher prices registered in contracts with Southeast Asian and Middle East suppliers.
A cargo of 30,000 mt of billet from Oman has been traded at $413/mt CFR to China, though some sources claimed the price was by $2-3/mt higher. The previous non-Southeast Asian booking to China was done at $407/mt CFR from India last week.
Demand for billet from Southeast Asia has remained strong. 60,000 mt of Vietnamese BF billet have been booked at $423/mt CFR to China this week, which is about $10/mt higher than the previous transaction level for billet of the same origin. This price translates to $415/mt CFR for non-Southeast Asian billet, if taking into account two percent import duty for all other suppliers outside of the region. Before this transaction, the main Indonesian exporter signed a contract at about $420/mt CFR China, which was $4-5/mt higher than the sale from the same supplier reported last week.
A small tonnage of Vietnamese IF billet has been sold to China at $410/mt CFR and this price level has been assessed by market sources as being fairly high, because this material is not in big demand among end-users in China.
Last week, a cargo of Iranian billet changed hands at $403-405/mt CFR China, some sources said, but this could not be confirmed so far. The previous transaction for ex-Iran billet was at $400/mt CFR China.
Offers from Black Sea have been heard at $415/mt CFR China, which translates to $375/mt FOB, according to a number of sources, but no new transaction has been reported in the market. Some sources have said that bids for ex-CIS material are still at $410/mt CFR.
The local billet and rebar market in China has been positive recently and buyers have been willing to purchase imported semis. Though some worries about future demand have been heard, because of floods in southern China, the situation in the north has stayed firm. Billet prices in Tangshan have been at RMB 3,400/mt ($486/mt) ex-works, up by RMB 20/mt ($3/mt) from Friday after an increase of RMB 70/mt ($10/mt) last week.
Rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at RMB 3,744/mt ($535/mt) today, July 14, up by just RMB 9/mt ($1.3/mt) on the day, but rising by RMB 54/mt ($7.7/mt) since Friday.
Higher demand and prices for imported billet in China have pushed up prices in the Southeast Asian market, but demand in this region has remained very weak. “Until someone actually buys, the price will be pegged at $405-410/mt CFR,” a Manila-based source told SteelOrbis. Current offers from major suppliers are at $410-415/mt CFR Manila.
