Sentiment in Southeast Asia’s import billet market has weakened this week and, even though offers and some deals have been at the same level as last week, market sources believe that a downtrend is around the corner after the decreases seen in Chinese futures prices.
A deal for ex-Indonesia 5SP billet by a trader was rumored to the Philippines at $530/mt CFR early this week, in line with similar quality billet sales last week. Offers for 5SP EAF/BOF billets have also been stable at $535-540/mt CFR. “There is a sudden softening of steel prices in China due to disappointing news from the recently concluded Central Economic Council. So, most buyers [in the Philippines] are in wait-and-see mode for further developments,” a Manila-based importer said. Some market sources confirmed that Indonesian 3SP billet has already been sold at below $525/mt CFR Manila. Even though the details have remained unconfirmed, this is a signal that the market is not as strong as last week and that the price may have already peaked.
Most deals recently have been from traders who took positions from ASEAN mills when prices were at $510-515/mt FOB, while the latest sales by an Indonesian mill sales were at $525/mt FOB.
There have been no fresh IF billet offers in Southeast Asia and, after the information about an ex-Vietnam IF sale at $524/mt CFR Manila late last week, market sources have said that this price is too high for now, and the maximum possible is $515-520/mt CFR for IF material.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet (3SP and 5SP) has settled at $523-530/mt CFR, versus $530/mt CFR last week.
Some offers for ex-Iran billet have been voiced at $520/mt CFR, up by $5-10/mt over the past week. But a few sources from Indonesia and Thailand have said that such prices are unworkable. IF billet prices in the local billet market in Thailand are equivalent to $480/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned.