Ex-Asia billet export prices have continued to decrease as the trade tensions between China and the US have accelerated with more and more tariff announcements. Prices for billets from China have fallen to their lowest level since September 2024. Though overall trading has been limited, demand for Asian billets has started to revive and more deals are expected soon, especially in Southeast Asia’s import market.
On April 9, the ex-China billet reference price has settled at $415-430/mt FOB with the midpoint at $422.5/mt FOB, down by $2.5/mt from April 8 and down as much as $15/mt from late last week. A few traders have confirmed that there are some firm offers at $425/mt FOB today and an undisclosed volume has been purchased by traders at around $5-10/mt below that level. “Some deals were done as prices have kept going down this week,” a Chinese trader said.
The market mood has been largely impacted by the trade war between the US and China. The US reciprocal tariffs on China have been modified to 84 percent from the previously announced 34 percent. With this move and the existing 20 percent tariffs, the “stacked” tariffs on Chinese imports have risen to 104 percent. As a countermeasure, China’s State Council Tariff Commission announced that it will impose another 50 percent tariff on all imports from the US as of April 10, following the previous 34 percent, with the tariffs rising to 84 percent.
“The exchange rate is better than before, which also contributes to the price fall, though the tariff impact is the major one,” another Chinese source said.
An Indonesian mill has cut its billet price to $428/mt FOB from $430/mt FOB early this week and $440/mt FOB last Friday. There has been some talk that some direct sales from the mill to end-users have taken place at $425/mt FOB, but this has failed to be confirmed by the time of publication.
As for demand, more active negotiations for Asian billets have been held in the Middle East. A few deals for the Turkish market were discussed at $465/mt CFR early this week and at $460/mt CFR or below today. Similar numbers near $460/mt CFR have been voiced in Saudi Arabia.
In Southeast Asia’s import billet market, offers for 150 mm 5SP billets of Chinese origin have been at $445/mt CFR Manila, while 3SP billet has been quoted at $440/mt CFR Jakarta, falling by up to $10/mt over the past week. “Trading is halted, but it will resume soon, I am sure,” a Singapore-based trader said.