The situation in the Asian billet export market has been rather stable since last week with only limited positive changes seen in China. Though some Chinese traders have been voicing a bit higher offers, most market sources agree that the real market level has failed to improve, and ex-ASEAN prices are unchanged.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China 3SP billet has been settled at $420-430/mt FOB with the midpoint at $425/mt FOB, which is $2.5/mt higher than late last week and stable over a day. Most offers have been closer to the upper end of the range and some Chinese traders have voiced even $432/mt FOB in offers. However, “I don’t think that real prices changed much, in deals they will be hardly even $420-425/mt FOB,” a Chinese source said.
On Monday, steel futures in China improved on news of some lower crude steel production in May – down by 6.9 percent year-on-year, but in general fundamentals have not changed much and raining weather is still impacting demand. On Tuesday, rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange inched up by a tiny 0.17 percent.
An official offer for ex-Indonesia billet has remained stable at $427/mt FOB for September shipment and no new deals have been reported after a sale at $425/mt FOB.