Ex-India billet trade activity has witnessed a revival over the past week with more sellers emerging and buyers accepting slightly higher prices at a time when local prices and volumes have continued downhill, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, November 8.
Ex-India tradable billet prices have settled at $485-495/mt FOB, versus $475-490/mt FOB last week, and the targets of government mills are starting from $500/mt FOB. Lower local prices and better interest from abroad are triggering more sellers to turn to export sales to compensate for the local slowdown.
The sources said that the export sales drive has been led by government mills, one of which floated export tenders aggregating 60,000 mt in two lots, followed by at least three large eastern India-based private mills, which had been absent from semis export sales for at least the last five months.
Though the tender sales of government mills are still open, the sources said that an Odisha-based mill reported a trade for 20,000 mt in a spot export deal with an Asian buyer at $485/mt FOB, which though was lower than the $500/mt FOB quoted initially but still higher than deals reported at as low as $475/mt FOB a week ago.
Another eastern Indian integrated mill concluded a trade for 35,000 mt to the Middle East at $492/mt FOB and another tonnage for Singapore at $490/mt FOB, the sources said.
“The sentiment is very mixed. Prices are still below the expectations of the $500/mt mark. But the positive is that there are more buyers active in concluding deals. The price may be below sellers’ expectations but it is still a slight improvement to levels which were being turned down last month,” a source at an Indian mill said.
“But it is also too early to claim that prices in Asia and the Middle East have bottomed out and that buyers are hence returning. Local sellers are also more active responding to the sharp slowdown in demand and prices of semis in tandem with construction grade finished steel in the local market. It is also positive that discounted export sales have halted, at least for now,” the sources said.
Billet prices have continued to record losses in the local market, moving down INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 43,000mt ($517/mt) ex-Mumbai and down INR 750/mt($9/mt) to INR 40,900/mt ($492/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 83.20
