Ex-India billet offer prices have showed no change over the past week with the export market languishing. Buyers across Asia have been maintaining a bearish outlook and a few have submitted low bids, while local sellers are unwilling to adjust prices aggressively to push sales, anticipating upward momentum in domestic sales, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, October 9.
Sources said that ex-India billet offer prices are unchanged at $430-440/mt FOB, but even stray bids at around $420-425/mt FOB have been considered unviable by local mills.
According to the sources, an export tender, which expired on Tuesday, September 9, is heard to have received a highest bid of $415/mt FOB and, though it could not be confirmed whether the bid will be followed up with a contract, most market participants said the price is too low to be viable for any seller.
“There are no positive drivers noticeable in any of the key Asian destinations. In a negative cycle, every buyer is expecting further declines before committing a trade amid prolonged demand weakness. Pricing has lost much of its effectiveness in driving sales and hence most sellers are retreating and prefer to hold stocks until better days,” an official at an Indian producer said.
“However, the worst of the short-term downtrend is seen to be easing. Long product market conditions will improve as soon as the rainy season ends and this will be reflected in the market for semis. Mills will increase captive consumption of semis and floating stock will decline, providing fresh impetus for billet prices,” he added.
Sources said that, even though gains in billet prices have been modest over the past week, the positive is that declines have been reversed with a tentative indication of a new uptrend emerging. Billet trade prices have gained INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 40,100/mt ($455/mt) ex-Mumbai and are also up INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 36,550/mt ($415/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 88.11
