Ex-India billet prices have continued to decline over the past week, led by large private mills, amid weak cues emerging from China, undercutting the tentative positive signs seen earlier. Also, a slowdown in the movement of semis in the local market has impacted exporters, but deals have still remained largely elusive and have been restricted to relatively small tonnages, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, March 12.
Ex-India billet reference prices have settled at $420-425/mt FOB, losing $5/mt over the past week. According to the sources, ‘Low offers at these levels have been normalized,’ as most large local mills have been reconciling to the fact that any possible uptrend in semis had been nipped in the bud by disappointment in the market following the political and economic summit meetings in China and with no rebound emerging as expected earlier.
While most government mills have continued to stay away from overseas sales, a few private mills have begun marking their presence in key overseas markets, following the noticeable slowdown in movement of semis in the local market.
An Odisha-based integrated mill has reported a trade for 20,000 mt at $420/mt FOB, sources said.
Another large mill sold a tonnage of 25,000 mt to an undisclosed destination in the Middle East at $425/mt FOB, the sources said.
“Ex-India billet prices are more aligned with the new declining trend emerging across Asia, following pessimism over the market in China. Indian sellers are more willing to adjust prices as the recent firmness seen in the local market is showing signs of running out of steam. Attempts to align ex-India prices with the new bearish reality are also linked to signs of rising inventories of semis,” an official at a private mill said.
Meanwhile, in the local market, billet trade prices have showed a mixed trend with a negative bias amid lower trade volumes and offtake by secondary mills. Billet trade prices have inched up INR 100/mt ($1.50/mt) to INR 42,900/mt ($492/mt) ex-Mumbai but have lost INR 150/mt ($1.70/mt) to INR 40,000/mt ($459/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 87.20
