More deals for import billets are disclosed to have been done to Southeast Asia lately in line with expectations for restocking ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. Deal prices were mainly stable compared to the previous reference levels but were discounted for sanctioned origins like Iran, which resumed its sales after a long pause.
A deal for 30,000 mt of Chinese 150 mm 5SP billets was disclosed to have been done at $455-457/mt CFR early this week, almost in line with expectations as the tradable level had been $455-460/mt CFR since last week, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. “Mills insisted on $460/mt CFR early this week, but finalized lower as expected,” a trader commented. Some sources believe that the final price was not above $455/mt CFR, but this has not been verified.
Also, after a long pause ex-Iran semis trading has resumed. In total up to 50,000 mt of Iranian semis (20,000 mt of billets and up to 30,000 mt of slabs) have been sold to Thailand recently with the billet price heard from the market at $440-445/mt CFR. “Iranian origin billets were offered to Indonesia at $448/mt CFR, inviting bids at $445/mt CFR, so no wonder someone booked with additional discounts,” a Singapore-based source said.
Also, there has been a rumor that last week 40,000 mt of ex-Iran billets changed hands at $448/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication.
In the large-volume deals done to Asia, ex-Iran FOB-based billet prices have been assessed at around $405-413/mt, according to the market.
The final price level for slabs in a deal this week could not be confirmed by the time of publication, but some market sources assessed it at $450-455/mt CFR. This price level translates to slightly below $420/mt FOB, but another Iranian mill, not a seller in this contract, was offering at above $425/mt FOB.
