Prices for Asian billet have been rising since early last week amid the pre-holiday rebound seen in China. In particular, the leading Indonesian producer announced its billet offers at $445/mt FOB late last week, versus $437/mt FOB last Thursday. And what is more important, the new offers are for April shipment.
The latest deal for at least 20,000 mt of billet was done at $437/mt FOB last week, according to sources, versus the previous deals at $430-433/mt FOB. These were all for March shipment. But some sources believe that the mill, by increasing its offers, has just decided to leave the market. “As per their official offers, they already have only April shipment. But let’s see after the holiday. I think they might have some March shipment,” a Singapore-based trader said.
The reference price for ex-China billet is at $435-445/mt FOB since Friday, with the official offers close to the higher end of the range. Sellers have already started to leave the market ahead of the long holiday that will start next week.
The same Indonesian mill is officially offering for March for wire rod, at $470/mt FOB, and for February for slabs, at $435/mt FOB.