The downtrend in Taiwan’s import billet market has continued even despite the slight rebound in China. Lately, the market has been fully dominated by Russian billets, which have been much cheaper than Chinese or ex-ASEAN billets.
The latest deal for ex-Russia billet that will be shipped from the Far Eastern ports of Russia has been reported to Taiwan at around $435/mt CFR, while the previous bookings from the same supplier were done at $443/mt CFR late last week and at $450/mt CFR in late November. According to market reports, just over the past two weeks the seller managed to sell 100,000 mt of billets to Taiwan. “China or any other origin simply cannot compete,” a Singapore-based trader said. The latest offers from China and the ASEAN region are equivalent to $470-480/mt CFR Taiwan.
The mill in Russia’s Far East has been aggressive in sales of billets and slabs recently, having a lack of options of where to sell. “I do not see many offers from Russia. They tried, but banking problems and other factors…” a Manila-based source said.
In such conditions, Asian suppliers have been focusing on other markets. For instance, late last week a trader took a position from the Indonesian mill at $455/mt FOB. On Monday, December 9, the offer was reduced to $450/mt FOB and it returned to $455/mt FOB again on Tuesday, December 10. Market sources assess prices from Indonesia and China at similar levels.
There has also been a rumor of a sale of Indonesian billet to Sri Lanka, but the final price has not been disclosed.