Prices for imported billet in Asia have increased from some sellers and some of them have decided to withdraw offers as they believe prices will rise more and more in the current situation of global shortage.
A Vietnamese BF-based mill has announced an offer at $735/mt FOB today to some buyers, up from $720/mt FOB heard earlier this week and from $700-705/mt FOB last week. No fresh offer has been reported from Indonesian mill Dexin Steel. Some people said that buyers have been ready to purchase at $720/mt CFR (the price the mill was giving last week), but the seller has refused to sign a deal, waiting for a higher price level of $735/mt CFR or above. “I think Dexin will offer no lower than $720/mt FOB if they go back to the market,” a Chinese trader said, adding that they most probably will wait until next week. The previous freight rate from Indonesia to Southeast Asia and China was about $20-25/mt, but it is expected to increase visibly soon on the back of the higher crude oil.
The recent price rise in offers has not been reflected in deals in Asia yet and they will be seen mainly from Southeast Asia, while China will remain absent from imports, sources believe. The local average ex-warehouse price in China has been at RMB 4,730/mt ($747/mt), up by RMB 75/mt ($12/mt) since last Friday, which, however, is still only $661/mt excluding 13 percent VAT.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in China has remained at $650-660/mt CFR for now. “I believe that it will be hard to accept above $650/mt CFR,” a source said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia (except ex-Iran) has increased indicatively to $710-720/mt CFR versus $700-710/mt CFR last week, mainly based on buyers’ rare bids and price ideas, while offers from sellers are either much higher or absent nowadays.