Falling scrap prices in Turkey and, partly in Asia, limited demand before the holidays have put pressure on sentiments in the Southeast Asian billet market. At the same time, there has been just a small decline in prices so far, as suppliers are waiting for a demand improvement from China and Taiwan after the holidays.
Deals prices for imported billet in the Philippines have not changed much over the past week. The latest contract for ex-Russia billet from Far East ports has been closed at $423/mt CFR Manila, according to traders, while there have been reports that Dexin Steel has sold some additional volumes to the Philippines after a trial sale earlier this month. Market sources said that one or two lots have been sold at $440-445/mt CFR, but this has not been confirmed by the seller or the buyer by the time of publication. Offers from major suppliers have moved down from $450/mt CFR last week to $445/mt CFR for ex-Far East Russia, India and Southeast Asia, a number of customers in the Philippines confirmed. “Some are still quoting at $450/mt CFR, but the market has already started to soften,” a Manila-based source said.
Ex-CIS billet from the Black Sea has been offered by a few mills and traders at $445/mt CFR to Southeast Asia, while some sources said that even $440/mt CFR has been possible to get, but no fresh deals have been reported due to the pre-holiday lull in the market.
Buyers from Thailand have said that the workable level for ex-CIS billet (mainly from Russia’s Far East ports) have slipped by $5-10/mt to $435-440/mt CFR, but the lower level has not been fixed in new deals.
Ex-Iran billet was traded at $425-430/mt CFR in mid-January and offers have been heard mostly at $430/mt CFR Thailand this week, but customers have been not ready to pay above $425/mt CFR.
SteelOrbis’ reference price for Southeast Asian imported billet has lost $3/mt on average to $440-445/mt CFR.
