The fluctuations recently seen in China have impacted Southeast Asia’s import billet market with offers edging up early this week and retreating slightly again subsequently. At the same time, demand has been extremely low in Southeast Asia, with buyers in the Philippines facing the southwest monsoon (habagat) and heavy rainfalls, while customers in other countries are looking for cheaper alternative resources.
The SteelOrbis reference price has settled at $520-525/mt CFR this week, stable from the level reported early this week, but up slightly by $7.5/mt on average from last week’s levels of $510-520/mt CFR.
After a deal for ex-Saudi Arabia at around $520/mt CFR (different market sources assess the final price at $519/mt CFR or $522/mt CFR) last week, there have been no new contracts, according to sources.
At the same time, offers from traders for ex-Indonesia 5SP billets have been at $525-530/mt CFR today, down from mills’ official offers at $535/mt CFR reported earlier this week. “The mill is still asking $535/mt CFR in Southeast Asia, but some traders can go lower, based on previous bookings [from the mill],” an Asian long steel producer said. Another mill also said, “I think $520/mt CFR Manila is possible if there is any trader who is now nervous about his position cargo. It is also fair for offers for IF billet. But most BOF billet offers are at $525-530/mt CFR Manila.” A few other sources confirmed offers for Asian origin billets at $520-535/mt CFR. “Offers were higher by $5-10/mt at the start of the week, then they have gone down again since yesterday,” a Mania-based trader said.
Ex-China origin billet is available hardly below $540/mt CFR Southeast Asia.
Most areas in Luzon Province in the Philippines, where a number of rebar facilities are located, are experiencing heavy rains, which will continued at least until the end of next week. The province of Visayas will also face moderate-to-strong winds and seas.
In other Southeast Asian countries, negotiations have been focused on ex-Iran billet. A deal for an undisclosed volume has been rumored at $500/mt CFR to Indonesia, but could not be confirmed by the time of publication. Offers for ex-Iran billet have been at $505/mt CFR in Thailand, but with no deals reported so far.