The situation in the import billet market in Southeast Asia has improved a little this week and, even though overall demand has remained slack, some buyers have decided to purchase limited volumes, seeing prices are going up. However, those buyers who can still book sanctioned material have remained focused on this material due to its lower prices compared to Asian origins.
The tradable level for 5SP 130 mm billet in the Philippines has increased to $515-520/mt CFR this week, versus $510/mt CFR last week. Negotiations with a trader at $519/mt CFR Manila have been heard, though there has been no confirmation of a deal being done. However, “we will see deals, it is not surprising, when offers move up. You see that the official FOB [from Asian mills] are high,” a local trader said. One of the re-rollers from the Philippines has confirmed negotiations at “slightly below $520/mt CFR.”
The latest Russian 3SP billet sale from Far East ports has been done to Taiwan at $500/mt CFR, which is almost in line with the previous offers of $500-505/mt CFR, but above the previous sales at $495/mt CFR.
An ex-Iran 10,000 mt billet sale has been reported at around $505/mt CFR Thailand, while the previous sales for this origin in Southeast Asia were at $498-503/mt CFR. Also, some sources believe Thailand has purchased some ex-Russia billet as well, but no details have been disclosed by the time of publication.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has increased by $7.5/mt on average over the past week to $515-520/mt CFR as it does not include prices of sanctioned material.
