Buying of import billet in Southeast Asia has somewhat accelerated this week, but buyers have been focusing on purchases of discounted IF billets, material from sanctioned countries, or have been asking for prices which are up to $5/mt lower from China. The fluctuating trend in China has made buyers cautious in dealing with mainstream Chinese and ASEAN region-based sellers.
A deal for 30,000 mt of 5SP 150 mm Vietnamese IF billet has been reported at $465/mt CFR Manila over the past week, as most offers for 5SP billet from China have been heard at $470/mt CFR and above early this week. “Maybe today after futures in China dropped, $465/mt CFR could be available from some Chinese traders, but this only happened today. Early this week, offers were rare and above $470/mt CFR amid news of production cuts,” a trader said.
In addition, 30,000 mt of 5SP 150 mm Iranian billet have been sold to Indonesia at $458-460/mt CFR. But “China’s billets softened quite significantly today with $440/mt FOB available for 3SP,” a Singapore-based trader said, adding that in such a case for Iran most bids will be not above $455/mt CFR. Apart from this sale to Indonesia, a smaller tonnage of Chinese 5SP billet is heard to have changed hands already at $465/mt CFR Indonesia.
The main Russian seller has been targeting $460/mt CFR in Taiwan.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia stands at $455-465/mt CFR, stable over the past week. Some buyers are still assessing $455/mt CFR as the highest possible level for 3SP billet and, with no confirmed production cuts in China for now, the market may fluctuate in a limited range.
