Import billet offers have increased in the Southeast Asian market this week, but buyers have been mostly reluctant to accept any higher levels as they managed to conclude low-priced deals just last week, SteelOrbis has learned from the market.
The latest deals for ex-Indonesia 5SP billet were closed to the Philippines at $510/mt CFR, according to sources, “But it doesn’t look like there are new bookings yet for this week. So far nobody is chasing the newly increased billet prices,” a Manila-based re-roller said. This week, most offers for Asian origins have been coming for 5SP billet at $520-525/mt CFR and some are even at $530/mt CFR.
“Dexin sold 20,000-30,000 mt at $497/mt FOB last Friday, but now offers for 3SP are at $500-505/mt FOB and for 5SP are at $505/mt FOB minimum,” a Singapore-based source said. The freight to Southeast Asia is around $15/mt at the moment.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has moved up to $515-520/mt CFR, versus $505-510/mt CFR last week.
There has been talk that 30,000 mt of ex-Iran billet were sold to Thailand at $498/mt CFR last week, but also a few traders reported offers at $495/mt CFR for Iranian material. “Two buyers said they could purchase at $490/mt CFR,” a Bangkok-based source said, but most participants agree that this price is too low, taking into account the mills’ latest sales at $465/mt FOB. Offers for ex-Iran billet were at around $495-498/mt CFR early this week.
