The uptrend in the Southeast Asian billet market has as expected continued after the holiday, but the less positive than expected situation in China has led to a slower increase in the Southeast Asia compared to sellers’ previous targets.
On Monday, most suppliers, including traders, voiced their targets at $620-650/mt CFR Manila, up strongly from the previous week’s tradable level of $600/mt CFR on average. But by the middle of the week, due to lower futures in China and weaker optimism than expected, suppliers have mostly lowered offers to $610-620/mt CFR and some bids have been reported at the lower end of the range, though no new deal has been reported so far in the Philippines. “I think the post-Chinese New Year rally has been disappointing, so I would not be surprised to see a further steel price softening,” an importer from Manila said.
Ex-ASEAN offers to Indonesia and Thailand have been reported at $605-610/mt CFR today, on February 2, after sellers could not find any reaction to offers at $625/mt CFR earlier this week. Ex-India billet was available in the region at $615/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has settled at $605-615/mt CFR, up by $10/mt compared to last week.
At the same time, the latest and the lowest offer for 30,000 mt of ex-Iran billet to Thailand has been at $590-595/mt CFR, down from $605/mt CFR for February shipment voiced by traders early this week. The general range of ex-Iran billet in Southeast Asia has been at $590-600/mt CFR in Indonesia and Thailand this week, up from $585-590/mt CFR seen last week.