Sentiment in the Chinese billet market has weakened over the past week and at the moment most customers are rejecting higher offers from suppliers. Bids have remained in line with the latest bookings done last week. However, some improvement has been seen in the local market in China today, Tuesday, July 21.
According to sources, a contract for ex-UAE billet was done at around $415/mt CFR to China early last week, which is in line with the previous booking from the GCC. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, ex-Oman billet was traded at almost the same level two weeks ago. The latest confirmed deal for ex-Ukraine billet was concluded at $413/mt CFR China a week ago.
Though most suppliers have been trying to increase prices since last week, these attempts have not been successful so far. The maximum bid prices for non-Southeast Asian billet are at $415/mt CFR at the moment, while most offers are at $425/mt CFR, for instance from the CIS. “Offers are high for us, so we are not in negotiations now,” a Chinese importer said.
Billet offers from Indonesia have been heard at $425/mt CFR and above, while offers from Vietnam have been heard at $430/mt CFR China for October shipment. No new bookings have been confirmed so far and most sources said that bids are in line with the previous deals at $420-425/mt CFR, as reported earlier this month.
At the same time, domestic billet prices and rebar futures prices in China improved slightly on Tuesday, signalling that demand continues to be observed despite the rainy weather. Average local billet prices have increased by RMB 7/mt today, while rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange have added RMB 45/mt ($6/mt) today to RMB 3,764/mt ($538/mt).
