Interest in the Chinese billet import market has remained high recently amid the strong appetite of traders and the healthy local steel market. Rumours have spread in the market that the deal prices for Indian billet have reached $380-385/mt CFR, but most market participants have rejected this information and confirmed that the latest bookings have been at $375-378/mt CFR China.
The latest deal for Indian origin billet has been done at $378/mt CFR, a number of Chinese traders confirmed, though the volume has not been disclosed by the time of publication. Another deal before this was concluded at $370-375/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.
The ex-CIS workable price level has been at $375/mt CFR, in line with two bookings by a Ukrainian mill. “$380-385/mt CFR are current offers, but they are not workable,” a Chinese buyer said. “In my view, the market is still below $380/mt CFR,” another source said.
Chinese market participants mentioned that this week local billet prices in China have been stable so far, and so it is unreasonable to accept higher prices for imported semis. The billet price in Tangshan has been at RMB 3,140/mt ex-works, including 13 percent VAT.