Higher prices for import billet have been confirmed in the latest deals to China and East Asia this week, SteelOrbis has learned.
A lot of 20,000 mt of ex-Indonesia billet has been booked to China at $685-687/mt CFR today, August 31, sources have confirmed. Offers have increased to $690/mt CFR from Indonesia and Vietnam. Late last week, China purchased ex-ASEAN billet at $675/mt CFR.
In addition, a fresh ex-CIS billet sale to Taiwan has been heard at $685/mt CFR.
Indian mill RINL has held an auction for billet exports today and, though the final results have not been confirmed by the time of publication, sources said that the target of the mill was $610/mt FOB, which translates to around $680-690/mt CFR, adding $70-80/mt of freight costs.
The current increase in import billet deals in Asia has been expected after the improvement seen in the local market in China. The domestic billet price level in Tangshan has added another RMB 30/mt ($7/mt) today, reaching RMB 5,020/mt ($776/mt) ex-works on August 31. This price level corresponds to $687/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT. “September is a good month for rebar [demand], so prices [for billets] will be higher,” a trader commented.
$1 = RMB 6.4679