A major Indonesia mill managed to sell around 100,000 mt of billets at $430-431/mt FOB for December shipment in the middle of this week, according to market sources. But even though this is the first sizable volume sold after a long pause, market sources in general do not see this as a strong sign of an improvement in the market conditions.
Surveying different final sales destinations, there has been no significant increase in demand, especially for Indonesian billet, which is still more expensive than Chinese billet. Some of the mentioned volume has been taken by a trader for sales in Malaysia, and some of it was for the local Indonesian market. However, the rest of the billet volume “can only have been purchased by traders in positions”, an Asian source said, adding that at the moment the major Asian or Middle Eastern buyers are not interested in such a price. Some market sources said that part of the volume could go to Latin America in the future.
Today, October 17, the new offer price for ex-Indonesia billet is at $435/mt FOB for January shipment, up by $2/mt from the previous day and stable compared to the level seen late last week.
Ex-China billet deals for sizable volumes have also been heard this week, at $425/mt FOB and slightly lower.