Chinese billet import activity has remained in the focus of the international market. More deals have been disclosed recently, with prices posting just small changes.
About 10,000 mt of ex-Vietnam billet have been traded at $715-717/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. This price is in the range of $710-720/mt CFR, which was reported as a workable level yesterday, July 22.
In addition, a cargo of ex-Indonesia billet has been booked at $718/mt CFR.
Also, an Iranian mill has sold a billet lot at $640-645/mt FOB with China being the targeted market. However, the overall availability of billet from Iran has remained limited due to electricity shortages.
In Southeast Asia, demand has been weak during the week as the Covid-19 pandemic has hit construction steel demand. Offers have been reported at $710-720/mt CFR. “Manila is silent, but some deals were seen for other ports,” a trader from the Philippines said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet (excluding IF) in Southeast Asia has increased by $10/mt over the past week to $700-710/mt CFR, but mainly because of the uptrend in China.