According to the recent reports from market sources, a tender, held by Indian major mill RINL, for 30,000 mt of 150 mm billet, has been closed recently owing to revived demand from China after the holiday.
The highest bid from one Chinese trading company has been heard at $629.5/mt FOB, this price level has been assessed at relatively high for the current market condition, moreover, taking into account that the trader would have to deal with 100 percent advance payment. “Last week they were offering $615/mt FOB against LC and no one took,” an international trader said.
Market sources in China have been estimating the freight in this deal at $75/mt, so the final CFR price translates to around $715/mt CFR. “I am sure they bought it for future purposes as I don't think it's possible to sell beyond $710/mt CFR today,” a Singapore-based trader said.
Another deal from India to China was reported earlier this week at $600-610/mt FOB, but a number of sources believe that it was for IF material.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India billet has been increased to $620-630/mt FOB, up $10-15/mt from late last week.