Indian billet exports have continued to remain at a standstill with mills lowering prices but not sufficiently to trigger any buying in view of the availability of cheaper alternatives in most key destinations, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
Ex-India reference billet prices have been lowered further, by $10/mt over the past week to $690-700/mt FOB. After a bid at $700/mt FOB received by India-based RINL last week and after it was rejected, the tradable level has continued to decline.
No trades have been heard in the market, with sources claiming that ex-India prices are largely notional as sellers have been unwilling to push sales overseas, when bids in most Asian and Gulf regions are being received at $700-710/mt CFR.
“Price cutting has become the new normal in billet trading. But it is important to note that in the current market conditions lowering prices does not guarantee any sales in a falling price regime. There is a lot of material available at $650-710/mt CFR in the Asian region and price undercutting is fierce, and Indian mills are not in position to enter a price war” an official at a government-run mill said.
“Even though the local market for semis is weak, Indian mills are preferring domestic sales to the risks of bidding war overseas,” he said.
Industry sources said that, while domestic private mills have been out of overseas sales ever since buying from China dried up, government mills are also seen to be absent from making offers after bids received indicated that buyers in the Gulf were seeking CFR values on a par with FOB values, which were unacceptable to sellers.
They said that, with Russian exporters most active in the Asian region, and importers from China staying away after the drastic slide in rebar prices, interest in Indian semis had “vanished at least for the medium term.”
