Following a short holiday, Chinese mills returned to the market on Tuesday, September 13. The tradable level for imported billet has improved compared to last week and the appetite is gradually increasing, but for the majority of sellers prices in China are still not good enough, SteelOrbis has learned from the market.
The average local billet price in China has increased by RMB 30/mt ($4/mt) over the week to RMB 3,805/mt ex-warehouse, which translates to $488.5/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT. “Some customers have started to be more interested in billets [both local and import], waiting for better construction these months,” one trader said.
The most competitive offers from abroad could be found for ex-Iran and ex-Russia Far East billet to China at $500-505/mt CFR for October-November shipment. “I think $500-505/mt CFR might get a chance to make a deal,” a source from China said, though adding that demand has not increased much so far, and deals in the near future could be done mainly on expectations of future demand.
However, some traders said that, even though some improvements in the Chinese market have already been seen, the tradable level for imported billet would hardly be above $480-490/mt CFR at the moment “as the local market is at this level now,” another trader said.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in China has increased to $480-500/mt CFR, up from $480/mt CFR last week.
$1 = RMB 6.8928