Import billet prices in the Southeast Asian market have declined further this week with Chinese traders still being the most aggressive and with even some extremely low IF prices emerging this week. Even though on Thursday rebar futures in China have rebounded, making Chinese billet exporters less bearish, overall sentiments in the Southeast Asian market have not changed, SteelOrbis has learned.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has settled at $600-605/mt CFR this week, down by $10-15/mt from last week and down $5-10/mt from Tuesday, March 28.
A number of market sources have confirmed that offers for 5SP billet from Chinese traders for ex-China and ex-Indonesia billets have been voiced in the Philippines at $600-610/mt CFR. Moreover, there has been at least one report of an offer at $595/mt CFR on Wednesday. However, it has been withdrawn on Thursday amid the futures rebound, according to sources. Nevertheless, the mood has not improved today: “Demand as a whole in Southeast Asia has decreased, as well as in China. I don't see the futures carrying the price up,” a source in Manila said.
Moreover, there has also been a rumour of a sale of ex-Thailand IF billet to the Philippines at $575/mt CFR, which has been assessed as being too low even for the current market conditions. No confirmation about the transaction at such a low level has been received by the time of publication and most market sources said they just expect prices to go below the $600/mt CFR mark. “Maybe bids are at these levels, but no one will sell. BF/EAF offers are up to $620/mt CFR,” a trader said.
As of Thursday, March 30, rebar futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 4,167/mt ($605/mt), increasing by RMB 97/mt ($14.1/mt) or up 2.4 percent since March 23, while rising by 0.53 percent compared to the previous trading day.