Bid prices for imported billet in Asia have been seen at lower levels this week, following a few relatively high-priced deals done to the Philippines last week, for instance. Weak Chinese market and overall caution attitude of most customers have pushed prices down further.
The major customer in the Philippines closed two deals for two different ports at $660-670/mt CFR last week, but the price for Manila is at the lower end of the range, as only “everything bought for Cebu was at close to $670/mt [CFR],” a local source from the Philippines said.
“$660/mt CFR sounds high, despite the hike in China futures last Thursday,” an Asian trader said, adding that the tradable level for the Philippines would be now “max $650/mt CFR and only if somebody is desperate for cargo.”
Another trading source said “The Philippines will benefit from this dogfight [between mills and traders] because there is no rush to book.”
One of the large exporting mills said that an offer at $650/mt CFR to Southeast Asia, which has already been available since late last week, would unlikely to result in deals.
Negotiations for two traders’ position cargoes of 10,000 mt each in Indonesia were held at $630-645/mt CFR. Some market sources believe that the trades were done, but the final prices have not been confirmed by the time of publication.
An offer from a major Vietnamese producer has slipped to $610/mt FOB from $620-625/mt FOB heard late last week. “Hoa Phat just collects the proposals, because China cannot absorb this price. Heard that the billet in China is at $600/mt CFR as the highest. So at this stage, Hoa Phat prefers to sell rebar and wire rod instead,” a local trader said.
In the Chinese local market, mills in Tangshan slightly increased prices yesterday and kept them stable today at RMB 4,180/mt ex-warehouse, translating to $579/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT. “Local billet prices are $580/mt CFR FO import equivalent. Nothing is really working when imports to China are concerned,” a Singapore-based source said. Those traders who share the negative outlook, have seen the market at still $570/mt CFR or below.
Some sources said that the highest possible level is $600/mt CFR, taking into account different levels in provinces and higher prices in Jiangsu. But even this level has been too low for any seller at the moment, and the major selling focus is still on Southeast Asia.
The reference price for import billet in China is in the range of $570-600/mt CFR, average price remained unchanged compared to last week.