Most offers for billet have been coming to Southeast Asia and China at $405-415/mt CFR, sources have said, which is $5/mt above the level heard late last week.
Indian billets have been popular recently. Two lots of 30,000 mt each have been traded by different Indian mills at $400/mt CFR and $402-403/mt CFR to China on Thursday and Friday-Saturday of last week, respectively.
Another Indian producer sold a smaller volume of 125 mm billet at $406/mt CFR to an Asian trader, with some sources saying it was for the Philippines, and some saying that it will be consumed in China. Most sources have said that there was an extra of up to $5/mt in this deal due to the different quality of the billet.
Moreover, a contract for a big lot of Russian billet from the Black Sea region was signed at $400/mt CFR to the Philippines last week, sources have said, which translates to $365-370/mt FOB. However, the information has not been confirmed by the supplier yet.
At the moment, offers for August shipment Indian and ex-CIS billet are coming mostly at $410/mt CFR. The workable level has also increased slightly early this week. The tradable value for non-Southeast Asian billet in China has been at $402-405/mt CFR. Customers from the Philippines have been bidding at $400/mt CFR and below, if they have enough stocks, while those who need to buy will have to pay $405-410/mt CFR. “In my view, $395/mt CFR is a reasonable price. But we resumed operations just last week and have stockpiles,” a Manila-based re-roller told SteelOrbis. Offers for 100 mm ex-CIS billet have been at $400/mt CFR in the Philippines.
Offers for ex-Iran billet were heard at $395/mt CFR Thailand early this week, while the booking price was at $383/mt CFR last week.
