Ex-India billet prices have declined over the past week with sellers continuing to offer top-up discounts to push sales overseas amid the deepening of negative sentiments among Asian buyers, although the aggregate volume of successful sales is heard to be very limited, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
Ex-India billet prices have been cut by large mills to the range of $430-440/mt FOB, compared to levels of $440-450/mt FOB in the previous few weeks. However, these offers were submitted along with addition discounts on the final invoice as sellers attempted to push volumes overseas.
An Odisha-based mill reported a sale of 20,000 mt of prime concast billet at $420-430/mt FOB with the price net of discount closer to the lower end of the range, versus a formal offer heard to be around $435/mt FOB, sources said.
Another mill reported a sale of 20,000 mt for the Middle East market at $425/mt FOB, net of discount, the sources said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India billet has settled at $425-430/mt FOB, versus $430-440/mt FOB last week.
The imperatives of pushing discounted sales are rooted in setbacks received in the local billet market, with the long products market entering an unexpected downturn and the bearish demand outlook leading to declines in prices and trade volumes of semis.
In the local market, billet trade prices have slumped by INR 1,100/mt ($13/mt) to INR 39,200/mt ($447/mt) ex-Mumbai and have lost INR 800/mt ($9/mt) to INR 36,600/mt ($417/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 87.68
