Considering the slowdown of price fluctuations in China this week and still slow demand, a number of Asian traders have voiced slightly lower offers for Southeast Asian buyers. Nevertheless, this move has been made just as a correction from the previous levels whilch were too high, and in general the market has settled at higher levels compared to July.
A few small-volume deals have been done in Southeast Asia after these small discounts. In particular, 10,000 mt of Asian 5SP 150 mm billet were sold at $465/mt CFR Manila late last week. A few sources said that all offers were at $470/mt CFR and higher last week and this week “sellers still ask the same $470+/mt CFR. But deals may be done only after discounts, and even this level is not very attractive,” a local source said.
In Thailand and Indonesia, offers for 3SP billets have been at $460-465/mt CFR, while those for 5SP have been at $470/mt CFR. But no deals have been reported for Asian origins as “bids are $5-10/mt less,” a Singapore-based trader said. “$450/mt CFR is the price Thai buyers will pay, but it can be offered only for limited volumes of Iranian billets,” a Bangkok-based source said.
Ex-Russia billet offers to Taiwan have been at $460/mt CFR this week with previous small volume deals done at $455/mt CFR. But there have been no firm offers for Russian origin to Southeast Asian buyers.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in Southeast Asia has settled at $455-465/mt CFR this week, stable on average, but narrowing by $5/mt from last week.
This week, the leading Indonesian billet exporter has started to offer billet and slabs, at $455/mt FOB for both (up by $2/mt since last week) - for November shipment. “They didn’t sell anything recently, because November shipment is quite late, and for October shipment they sold mainly HRC and longs, not semis. There is no pressure to lower prices and China’s prices are not that far off either, at around $450-455/mt FOB,” an international trader said.