Chinese billet prices have been rather stable in both the local and export markets, being among the most competitive in the international market, even though buyers have not been so active lately. Nevertheless, the leading Indonesian mill has increased its billet offers by $10/mt and its slab offers by as much as $20/mt, reflecting bullish sentiments.
The ex-China billet reference price is stable at $460-470/mt FOB. “There are no big positive signals for the Chinese market in April so far, so demand is stable too,” a trader noted. The latest deals were done at the lower end of the range last week, but in general trading activity has been rather weak. Nevertheless, with the latest increase in scrap prices and no cheaper option in Asia, customers will keep booking Chinese billets in the near future, market sources believe.
Southeast Asian billet importers are insisting on small discounts and say that $480-485/mt CFR for both 3SP and 5SP would be a reasonable price today, which is $5/mt below offers seen last week.
The Indonesian mill has increased its June shipment billet offers by $10/mt from late last week to $495/mt FOB. But there have been no new bookings reported for billets, and this hike has been due to the producer’s bullish mood, while wire rod offers for the same shipment period are also up by $10/mt, to $530/mt FOB. “They are testing the market. I don’t think we should take these prices [for billet from Indonesia] serious for now,” an Asian trader commented.
At the same time, ex-Indonesia slab offers have been increased by as much as $20/mt to $540/mt FOB for July shipment. The main reason for this hike has been the better situation in the HRC segment “because of the sales of HRC being concluded at $560/mt FOB for the Indonesia market”, a market source said. The new HRC offer price from this mill is $580/mt FOB, according to the official source.