Last week, a deal for 26,000 mt of ex-Russia billet, which will be shipped from Russia’s Far East ports, was closed at $515/mt CFR to the Philippines. The deal was done for 5SP 125 mm material. The price is higher than in the previous deal for 3SP done to Taiwan at $500/mt CFR and a 100 mm billet contract at $500/mt CFR Manila. However, market sources have said that this slight increase in prices is linked to the situation in Asia itself, rather than to the imposition of export tax in Russia late last week.
The same supplier has been offering 125 mm billets to Thailand at $510/mt CFR, but the final deal was closed to the Philippines.
“Some Mechel material was also in the market, but there’s no deal yet in the region,” a trader said.
Offer prices for ex-Asia 5SP billet in the Philippines reached $518-520/mt CFR last week, up from $510-515/mt CFR earlier. As a result of some increase in offers for most origins, a slightly higher level has been accepted for Russian billet as well. “In general, the market is bad. There’s not much hope for a demand improvement this year,” a source said.