There has been talk about a few sizable-volume deals for ex-Indonesia and ex-China billet over the past week. Even though prices have been rather stable lately, traders are not expecting any significant decline anytime soon, which has triggered buying activity even though allocation for January shipment has been very limited.
A deal for 50,000 mt of ex-Indonesia billet has been heard at $432/mt FOB, stable from what was reported earlier this week and $3/mt lower than last Friday. The deal was for February shipment and now the mill is offering March shipment billet at the same price level. Most large traders confirm that they heard this deal was done to Turkey, but market sources said that it can be for a long position as the CFR price has not been finally confirmed by the time of publication. “I heard Turkey bought 200,000 mt of billets this week from Asia. At least part of is from Dexin,” an Asian trader said. But, again, such large volumes are not confirmed as having been really sold to Turkish mills. Most offers for Asian origins have been at $465-470/mt CFR in Turkey for the past week and “we could not get any interest from anyone. I also do not believe that there will be a much lower price. Going short at these levels will be too risky,” a Turkish source said. With the latest lowest offers for ex-China billets at $430/mt FOB, the deal price to Turkey can be calculated at $465-466/mt CFR.
In addition, the latest large booking for ex-China billet to the UAE has been heard at $457-458/mt CFR, but information about the buyer is still not available. Market sources agree that the deal was done before this week, since for the current market traders would insist on a price above $460/mt CFR.
Also, in Southeast Asia, buyers have been willing to make purchases, but demand has been for January-early February shipments only. “SteelAsia [the largest buyer in the Philippines] floated a big enquiry, but Dexin’s price cannot match it,” a large Asian trader said. Also, “they need arrival before the Chinese New Year [February 17-March 3, 2026].. very difficult to source,” another source in Asia commented. The tradable level in the Philippines is still at $450/mt CFR, versus offers at $450-460/mt CFR.
The main reasons for the stabilization of billet prices is the stability of costs at high levels in China (with iron ore staying above the $105/mt CFR mark) and the declines seen in both supply and demand for steel in the local market.