Though Asian billet export prices have not been posting big changes compared to last week, trading activity has improved, especially for Chinese billets. This signals that a number of buyers (both in Southeast Asia and the MENA region) have been sharing stable expectations and have decided to replenish stocks with billets that will be delivered in September and October, when seasonal demand for longs is better.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China billet stands at $455-460/mt FOB today, July 29, down by $2.5/mt on average from last week, as the lower end of the range has softened by $5/mt. A number of deals for a significant volume of over 50,000-60,000 mt in total of Chinese billet have been done to Southeast Asia and Africa at the abovementioned price levels.
In Southeast Asia, deals for Chinese 5SP 150 mm billet have been confirmed by sources in the Philippines: at least two customers have purchased at $480-482/mt CFR, which is almost in line with the level discussed a week ago. This price translates to around $455/mt on FOB basis or so. Market sources said that importers have been more active in concluding deals before August, when the market will be slow. “There have been no deals below $480/mt [CFR] yet. There were attempts at booking large quantities individually or combined, but the importers could not achieve such numbers yet,” a Manila-based source said. The lowest price for ex-China 3SP billet in Southeast Asia has been heard at $478-480/mt CFR, but no deals have been reported so far.
A sale of 30,000 mt of Chinese billet to the African market has been heard at $460/mt FOB.
Chinese material has been offered at $510-512/mt CFR at the lowest and up to $515/mt CFR, but customers have not been interested in it, focusing on purchases locally.
In addition, a lot of Indonesian billet is heard to have been booked at $460/mt FOB for September shipment, and the mill has started to offer the same price for October shipment, which is down by $5/mt from the level available from this producer last week. Market sources believe that a trader has taken a position for future sales in the MENA region, the GCC in particular, but there have been no further details.
