Indian billet exporters are caught in a double bind of steadily sliding bids as bearish conditions have deepened across most Asian destinations, and further losses in local prices even as export offers have been kept unchanged, largely considered ‘notional’ in the absence of any export trade activity, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, October 15.
Sources said that ex-India billet offers are stable in the range of $430-440/mt FOB but are largely irrelevant when bids are heard at lows of $420-425/mt FOB and a few even lower at around $410/mt FOB, ruling out any trade activity as such bids are at negative margins for Indian mills.
According to the sources, local mills have been disappointed by the new bearish trend emerging across markets, as the strong expectations of improved demand and prices after the holiday in China have failed to materialize. In fact, the mood among buyers has worsened as sellers from China became aggressive in pricing, expecting further declines.
The downward contagion was felt across producers, with Indian mills suffering additional setbacks, with losses in merchant trade prices of semis gaining momentum in the local market. With losses mounting in the local market, sellers were left with no headroom to be aggressive on the export front, the sources said.
In the local market, billet trade prices have decreased further in line with declines in long product prices. Billet trade prices are down by INR 400/mt ($4/mt) to INR 37,600/mt ($427/mt) ex-Mumbai and have lost INR 600/mt ($7/mt) to INR 34,900/mt ($396/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.