Bearish sentiment has persisted in the import billet market in Southeast Asia this week with demand being slow due to the holidays, while some suppliers have reduced offers. The bearishness in the market has not been overcome even by the recent announcement of an export duty for ex-Iran billets.
Offers for EAF and BOF regional Asian billets have been reported at mainly $815/mt CFR Manila this week, down by about $5/mt on average from last week. Some sources said that official offers at $820/mt CFR are still heard from some sellers, but the tradable level is not above $810/mt CFR.
In addition, a deal for ex-Vietnam billet (EAF, according to sources) has been done at $805-810/mt CFR to South Korea. Bids from customers in South Korea and the Philippines have already slipped to $790-800/mt CFR, taking into account the bearish moods in the market.
“Offered billet prices have softened, but demand is low. We are on the holy week/Easter break,” an importer from Manila said. “It's a quiet week with the Easter and Songkarn holidays here in Southeast Asia,” an international trader said.
The cheapest offers are still coming from IF producers. For instance, some ex-Vietnam IF billet was offered at $780/mt CFR to the Philippines, while one trading source has already mentioned an offer also for IF material at $760/mt CFR to the country. Sources said that suppliers from Vietnam were trying to increase prices to $800/mt CFR but failed and low demand has brought prices to levels seen earlier.
Despite the recent announcement of ex-Iran duty, there has been no impact on the Southeast Asian market as for now. “It seems that offers are still at $770-780/mt CFR Thailand/Indonesia for ex-Iran billet. I haven't seen an impact yet, neither for Iran cargoes, nor for other origins,” a trader said. “Buyers have all fingers crossed that the current existing shipments for May are performed smoothly,” another large trader said. Last week, deals for ex-Iran origin were done at $750-760/mt CFR, with the higher end of the range corresponding to the May shipment bookings.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia (for EAF/ BOF billet excluding ex-Iran material) has been settled at $805-815/mt CFR, down by $2.5/mt on average from last week as the lower end of the range has been lowered by $5/mt.