The uptrend in the import billet market in Southeast Asia has accelerated this week as ASEAN and Chinese mills have announced two rounds of offer price increases this week, though trading is still limited.
Offers for 5SP 130 mm BOF billet by traders for mainly ASEAN origins have been voiced at $535-545/mt CFR Manila, $10-15/mt higher than last week. One deal was rumoured at $525-530/mt CFR early this week, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication. “Offers are very high now. Most of the market is also waiting for cheaper Russian offers [to the Philippines],” a Manila-based source said. Early this week, the leading Russian mill in the Far East offered $515/mt CFR for 150 mm billet to Taiwan, but market sources said that the producer will target at least $520-525/mt CFR in the Philippines.
The Indonesian mill has announced a further increase in offers this week - by $5/mt to $520/mt FOB for 3SP billet, while some sources said they have already received $525/mt FOB from Dexin in the evening today, November 16. A small-volume deal has been confirmed for December shipment in the local Indonesian market at $517/mt FOB or $540-545/mt CFR. “No cheap offers here, so buyers have to pay,” a source in Jakarta said. Ex-China billet offers have reached $525/mt FOB.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has been at $520-540/mt CFR, up by $10/mt on average from last week. The range is wider than usual due to the bigger gap between bids and offers.
A deal for vanadium-added billet from Japan was done at $520/mt CFR to Taiwan late last week, when ex-Russia base material was sold at $505/mt CFR.
