Southeast Asia’s import billet market has remained rather quiet and prices have posted minimal changes from last week, also following the stable Chinese market. At the same time, some buyers have been interested in purchases from sanctioned billet suppliers after receiving discounts.
A deal for ex-Iran 3SP billet is reported to have been done to Thailand at $435/mt CFR, according to a number of market sources, and, though the volume has not been officially confirmed by the time of publication, this price has been assessed as reasonable for most buyers. “The original offer price [for Iranian material in Thailand] was $442/mt CIF last week, but no customer accepted the price, so they gave a lower price,” a Bangkok-based source said.
There have been no new deals even for sanctioned material heard in Indonesia, but a few sources said that bids could be at $435-440/mt CFR if someone needs to purchase urgently.
Most offers for Chinese 3SP billets to Thailand and Indonesia have been heard at $440-445/mt CFR, and up to $450/mt CFR from some suppliers. This is fairly stable from last week, when a deal to Thailand was done for ex-China 3SP with a manganese extra of $2-3/mt at $447/mt CFR.
In the Philippines, negotiations for ex-China 5SP billet have continued at $442-443/mt CFR, but no confirmed sales have been reported so far. “Buyers here can agree on something below $445/mt CFR, as sanctioned billets are not that acceptable,” a Manila-based source said.
Ex-China and ex-Indonesia billet offers are standing at $425/mt FOB for late December shipment and $430/mt FOB for January shipment, respectively.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia (which excludes sanctioned mills’ sales prices) has been settled at $440-445/mt CFR, inching down by $2.5/mt over the past week.
