Prices for ex-Asia billet have corrected down early this week, following a decrease in Chinese futures prices, impacted by weak property data and rather low demand locally. However, even despite the weaker mood, most market sources see this as a correction rather than a the start of a downtrend, at least for now.
Ex-China reference prices for billets have come to $435-440/mt FOB, down by $7.5/mt on average compared to late last week. This happened mainly due to the futures correction over the past two days after news about the weak property market in China in 2025 and the overall slowdown of demand. In 2025, the total area covered by construction activity in China declined by 10 percent, while the new area covered by construction activity dropped by as much as 20.4 percent year on year.
But a further price decline is doubtful, sources believe. “The local market is not under much pressure since some producers had started the CNY [Chinese New Year] overhauls, so fewer orders in January are somewhat balanced by lower outputs,” a Chinese trader noted.
The Indonesian mill cut its billet offer by $5/mt to $450/mt FOB on Monday, but some sources believe $445/mt FOB is workable for now, though “no one needs April [shipment],” a trader said.
In Southeast Asia, offer prices have lost $1-7/mt since late last week depending on the supplier. The lowest offers for Chinese 3SP billet from traders have been reported at $455-459/mt CFR to Taiwan and some Southeast Asian customers, versus $458-460/mt CFR reported late last week. For 5SP billet, suppliers want $455-460/mt CFR and the highest offers are still for 130 mm billets, at $465-466/mt CFR or above.
