The Indian billet export market suffered major setbacks during the past week with not only prices losing ground, but reports of at least two export tenders cancelled in wake of gloomy sentiment and outlook among Chinese buyers, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles.
At least two eastern India-based integrated steel mills were ready to sell at $600-610/mt FOB, while bids received ranged around $580-590/mt FOB as the highest. But sellers were unwilling to conclude deals at such valuations from China-based buyers.
At least one trader and an industry insider confirmed that two export tenders from two state run steel mills were cancelled, they floated earlier with August 24 as the last date for submission of bids. While the sellers have not officially disclosed the reason for cancellation of the tenders, sources said that the highest bids received for the two tenders aggregating around 45,000 mt averaged between $550-580/mt FOB, which were not acceptable to both exporters.
“The billet market in China is in a serious downturn. Although there has been some signs of improvement during the past two days, importers are still off the market,” sources in Indian government-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) said.
“Indian exporters are preferring to wait and watch rather than accept bids below the $600/mt mark,” he added.
The tradable price level in China has been at $670-680/mt CFR on August 25 with the majority of negotiations being hold with ex-ASEAN sellers. This CFR price corresponds to $590-600/mt on FOB basis from India