In general, the Asian billet market has remained rather stable this week, but while Chinese quotations are stable or slightly lower because of poor demand, some ASEAN mills have voiced small rises in offer prices, having no interest in active sales now.
The ex-China billet reference price has been stable at $435-440/mt FOB. “The current offer prices from Chinese mills are at $440/mt FOB. But some traders are offering $436-437/mt FOB,” a Singapore-based trader said. Demand in the local market has been weak due to cold weather so the small discounts can be provided from some exporters. “Personally, I believe that the price can still come down a little bit,” one of the largest Chinese traders said.
There has been rather weak demand for Chinese billet in the global market, but sporadic sales have been heard as “$440/mt FOB or slightly below is reasonable in the current conditions. [There are] no cheaper options,” an international trader said.
At the same time, the main Indonesian mill has increased its billet offers by $5/mt to $455/mt FOB, while slabs are also up by the same margin of $5/mt to $465/mt FOB. “It seems Dexin is not eager to sell more volumes before the festivals,” a trader said, adding that April shipment for billets is still available. But for slabs, offers from Indonesia are just for May shipment as the seller is heard to have traded two lots to the US at the previous level near $455/mt FOB. “Slabs [deals] are possible, but nothing for billet. Their [Indonesian] price is high for everyone,” an international trader commented.
