The situation in the Asian market has been rather stable this week with only minimal small discounts seen for ex-China billet and the overall mood is the same, which has triggered some buying in the Asian region.
The ex-China reference billet price now stands at $430-440/mt FOB, versus $430-450/mt FOB late last week. “Chinese offers are still at $435-440/mt FOB. I do not see changes and the trend will be settled in mid-October [after the National Day holiday],” a trader said. On the one hand, the Chinese market is supported by some gradual improvement in demand ahead of the holidays and newly released work plan for the steel industry in 2025-26, which will support value-added output growth at four percent. But on the other hand, local prices are stable and BF utilization is above 90 percent, so inventory is still climbing,” a Chinese trader noted.
A few small-volume deals for 10,000 mt each of 150 mm 5SP Chinese billets are reported to have been done to the Philippines at around $460/mt CFR or just slightly lower late last week and early this week. “$455/mt CFR was the buyers’ target, but it is hard to achieve, so the tradable level is near $460/mt CFR,” a Manila-based source said.
There have been no fresh deals reported for 3SP in Indonesia or Thailand. “The Indonesian currency has weakened a lot recently, so there is less appetite for imports,” a Jakarta-based source said, adding that the previous offers for Chinese and Iranian 3SP billets were at $455-460/mt CFR and $450/mt CFR, respectively. Also, Thai customers have continued to bid at not above $445-447/mt CFR, which is low even for ex-Iran or ex-Russia billet. The last sale for ex-Iran billet was at $450/mt as reported last week and the prices are stable so far.
Also, Asian billet sales to the MENA region have been at a standstill recently. “Chinese billet sellers have no chances in Turkey now with more local buying. Maybe Malaysia will have a chance at $480-485/mt CFR [as it is duty-free],” an Asian trader said.
The leading Indonesian producer has been offering in the narrow range of $445-450/mt FOB for the past three weeks. “Officially they are offering at $447-448/mt FOB. We can get $445/mt FOB, but there is no point in negotiations for such late shipment and with China’s price better,” a Singapore-based source said.