ASEAN mills have cut billet offers in the middle of this week, following the recent declines in Chinese futures and spot prices. Moreover, some lower offers have emerged from Japan. At the same time, SE Asian importers ask for additional discounts.
The Indonesian major mill has announced its offers for billet and slabs for February shipment at $445/mt FOB on December 19, down by $5-10/mt from the previous levels. This is almost in line with the Chinese offers at $445-450/mt FOB reported yesterday. Two days in a row China’s rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are falling by 1.5 percent, signaling weak market fundamentals. “Even these levels can’t attract buying as it is the end of the year and buyers are waiting,” a trader said.
Ex-Malaysia billet offers have also corrected down indicatively amid weak sales over the past weeks. In particular, the current FOB level is assessed at $450-455/mt. This has been reflected in offers to Turkey with some of them already being heard at $485/mt CFR, down from $490-495/mt CFR reported earlier this week.
At the same time, import billet offers from traders to the Philippines have been mainly at $465-468/mt CFR for both Chinese and ASEAN 5SP billets. Moreover, an offer from Japan for 5SP EAF billet has been heard at $462/mt CFR, being among the lowest at the moment with buyers targeting $460/mt CFR.
In Indonesia, buyers have received offers for 3SP Chinese billets at $460/mt CFR and for 5SP material at $465/mt CFR, but “if there are bids they are not above $450-455/mt CFR,” a Jakarta-based source said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in SE Asia has been settled at $458-465/mt CFR with the midpoint at $461.5/mt CFR, moving down by $3.5/mt from early this week and $13.5/mt from last week.