Though demand for import billet has remained poor in Southeast Asia, prices have continued to rise as sellers have achieved higher deal prices in trades to China and have been asking for prices visibly above $600/mt CFR in SE Asia too.
The latest offers for ex-ASEAN billet were coming to the Philippines at $610/mt CFR in the first half of the week and even higher asking prices have been reported on Thursday, up from the general level of $600/mt CFR seen last week. But “a $600/mt CFR mark has yet to be breached in Manila, even though it is reasonable in the current market,” a source said.
“The bar market is poor. Some mills have gone back to limited operations,” a trader from the Philippines said, adding that the latest deal was at $585/mt CFR a week ago. “There is not so much demand with this high price. Our economy is not good this year due to the pandemic,” another source from Manila said.
Other buyers in Southeast Asia have also been bidding at below $600/mt CFR. “The possible price is $590-595/mt CFR. The level of $600/mt CFR is not exciting,” an Indonesian importer said.
Customers from Thailand have received some offers for ex-Iran billet from traders at $595-600/mt CFR, “but no taker,” a local source said.
The major support for billet prices in SE Asia is still coming from the Chinese import market, where prices for ex-ASEAN billet have reached $620/mt CFR in the latest deals. “The market is definitely above $600/mt CFR. If China pays higher, the Philippines need to follow,” a market source said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import billet in SE Asia has been increased to $595-605/mt CFR so far, up by $10/mt on average from last week. The price has not been set at above $600/mt CFR despite much higher sales to China due to still low bids from SE Asia and absence of fresh deals to this destination.