Offer prices for ex-Russia billet in the Far East have increased this week, following some increases by ASEAN-based and Chinese mills since last week. However, even though there is a lack of cheap options for Asian buyers, ex-Iran billet prices are still assessed as the most competitive.
In particular, the leading mill based in Russia’s Far East has been offering 150 mm billet at $515/mt CFR for December shipment to Taiwan, up by $15/mt from the level reported early last week. One market source reported that the seller managed to sell at “slightly above $500/mt CFR [after the previous deal at $495/mt CFR Taiwan],” which was also one of the reasons for the increase in the offer price.
Ex-ASEAN billet offers have increased to $510-515/mt FOB since last week and the ex-China reference price has settled at $515-525/mt FOB (up by $5/mt from early this week) at the moment. “Dexin offered $540-545/mt CFR to Indonesia and there are some buyers discussing this,” a Singapore-based trader said.
However, there are still some cheap ex-Iran offers in the Asian market, which may put pressure on ex-Russia offers in the Far East in the near future. In particular, the last deal for 20,000 mt of ex-Iran billet was closed at $468/mt FOB, down from the previous one at $470/mt FOB. The tradable level for smaller mills is assessed at $465/mt FOB. The recent contract price level from Iran translates to $503/mt CFR, including freight and some expenses. The previous deal for ex-Iran billets by a trader was reported at $500-505/mt CFR to Indonesia, as SteelOrbis reported last week.
