Demand for ex-ASEAN billet has slowed this week with only one deal confirmed as done. But the price level in the deal is higher than contracts last week, which signals that sentiment has not worsened yet.
A contract for around 10,000-20,000 mt of billet from an Indonesian mill has been signed at $517/mt FOB, according to market sources. A trader has taken this as a position for further sale to the Middle East, Africa or Asia, sources believe. The previous deals were done at $507-513/mt FOB, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.
An offer for Indonesian billet to Turkey has been made at $555-560/mt CFR with freight at around $40/mt. At the same time, in Southeast Asia material of this origin is available at $535/mt CFR or above. Demand from end-users in general is low this week.