The Chinese billet market, where the increases in domestic prices have been providing better and better opportunities for imports, has once again come into the focus of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) suppliers. In the meantime, low rebar demand and pricing in their own local market has been resulting in weak billet trade.
According to sources, the latest billet deal to China from the GCC region has been closed this week for 50,000 mt from Qatar at $715/mt CFR. Earlier this week or at the end of last week, an ex-Oman sale was reported at $695/mt CFR. The key reason for the price increase in deals is the positive domestic market for billet in China. On September 10, local billet prices in Tangshan have added RMB 30/mt ($5/mt) to RMB 5,200/mt ($805/mt) ex-works, translating to $713/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT.
It is also worth mentioning that there has been information in the market about a 30,000 mt ex-India booking closed by a UAE-based mill at $591/mt FOB. However, most market players believe the cargo will be resold to China.
In the domestic billet market, offers by Omani mills to local and UAE-based buyers are at $620/mt CPT, while some bigger mills are reported to be offering at levels $10-15/mt higher. Local prices in the UAE are at $625/mt ex-works. In the meantime, the workable rebar levels in the UAE are hardly above $680-690/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis understands.