Ex-India billet prices have risen slightly, as mills have been anticipating some upside potential following speculative reports of a few deals at higher levels, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
The ex-India billet reference price stands at $420-440/mt FOB this week, up from $420-425/mt FOB last week. The sources said that, even though speculative gains were not officially confirmed, local private mills have preferred to wait and watch for better emerging opportunities across Asia and the Middle East, instead of deals at the current relatively lower levels.
According to sources, a relatively large-volume deal against the backdrop of recent tepid trade activity was heard for 30,000 mt at $440-445/mt FOB, but without any market participant definitely confirming the deal.
According to trade circles, even though a deal was not confirmed and seemed too high in the absence of any fundamental indicators showing a rebound, it prompted sellers to pause pushing trades at lower prices based on cautious optimism.
“Even assuming that prices have bottomed out, speculation of them touching $450/mt FOB seems unreasonable and such a recovery seems too fast,” an Indian source said.
“Even if some sellers have achieved significantly higher prices, they are unwilling to disclose details for obvious reasons when overall market conditions still remain bearish. We are continuously assessing emerging trends across Asia and will enter exports when appropriate,” the source said.
Meanwhile, in the local market, trade billet prices have showed a mixed trend with a negative bias indicating a slowdown round the corner, with rolling mills reducing offtake of semis as long product prices have been easing off.
Billet trade prices have lost INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 42,700/mt ($493/mt) ex-Mumbai but have gained INR 350/mt ($4/mt) to INR 40,350/mt ($466/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 96.60
