Though overall demand for imported billet in the Philippines has remained weak and buyers have been refusing to follow the global uptrend, new deals have been reported at higher levels by the end of the week. Still, they have been done for IF billet, as BF/EAF billet prices are too high for customers.
According to market sources, a few deals for ex-ASEAN IF billet, mainly ex-Thailand, have been reported at $622-623/mt CFR Manila this week, which is up from last week’s tradable level of $610-620/mt CFR. As SteelOrbis reported earlier this week, traders took positions for up to 70,000 mt of IF billet at $590-595/mt FOB from ASEAN sellers.
Offers for ex-China BF billet are at $635/mt CFR at the lowest at the moment, and this level is the lowest in the market for BF/EAF billet. Ex-Indonesia material is available at $650/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Aisa has increased to $625-630/mt CFR, up from $620/mt CFR earlier this week and up by $12.5/mt over the past week. The price for IF billets is usually $5-10/mt below that for BF/EAF and it is not included in the reference price.
