Ex-India billet prices have been maintained despite the almost stalled trade activity and the worsening of sentiments following the lower-than-expectation response to a government mill’s export tender, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, September 27.
A government-run mill held an export tender for 20,000 mt of 90 mm billet, with the highest bid received in the range of $495-498/mt FOB, lower than the mill had received for its previous lot of 150 mm billet at $513/mt FOB.
The sources said that the low bid received was in line with the trend of falling ex-China prices and weak demand across Asia, and with buyers continuing to expect prices to fall further and being hesitant to conclude deals.
The poor response received by the government seller had an effect of contagion on the overall market, prompting private mills also to stay away from any spot sales.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India billet has slipped a little to $500-510/mt FOB, versus $505-513/mt FOB last week.
“We don’t see many opportunities on the export front. Prices are falling too fast in most destinations, but Indian mills are averse to cutting prices of semis to push sales overseas as local sales continue to remain positive despite some variations,” an official at a private mill said.
“China remains the key determinant of the market outlook. But the fact that there are large volumes of ex-China material on offer, even ahead of the holidays indicate weak demand. Indian sellers do not want to get into an aggressive pricing situation,” he said.
Locally, the billet market has entered into a small correction, with prices losing INR 700/mt ($8/mt) to INR 46,300/mt ($556/mt) ex-Mumbai and down INR 1,500/mt ($18/mt) to INR 43,600/mt ($524/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 83.20