After possessing a trade rest in the last week, the Indian billet export market resumes with a noise. An Indian origin company was reported to book a couple of billet lots; 30,000 MT each, to China and Thailand. The deal value was reported to USD 397/MT CFR, and USD 400-405/MT, CFR respectively. The shipment is scheduled for Aug’20 for both the lots. According to sources reported to SteelMint, China has booked the billets from the company’s Middle East plant.
With the recent deal, SteelMint’s assessment for Indian billet export has moved up by USD 7-10/MT and stands at USD 385/MT, FoB for 150*150mm billets.
Last week, global billet prices have witnessed a rise. However, the steel futures in China were reported to decline, and hence the Chinese buyers were resisting the price hike by bidding low against the offers. Although, towards the end of the last week, the steel futures were noted to witness a decent rise. According to SteelMint analysis, the increased steel futures is the prime reason for this booking in China and could drive the imports in the country in the coming weeks as well.
Chinese domestic billet prices are currently at RMB 3,310/MT, ex-Tangshan, tax-inclusive, up RMB 30 against last week’s closing. Notably, China’s rebar steel futures today hit the highest in more than 9 years over strong spot steel demand and falling domestic inventories of the construction material. This in turn has kept market sentiments supported.
While on the contrary, the billet demand in the SE Asian region has started getting to normal, as most of the countries have gradually started lifting the lock-down. And hence, the SE Asian buyers are bidding at par with the current offers.
Meanwhile, the billet export offers from CIS have also increased and are currently at USD 355/MT, FoB Black Sea, up USD 2-5/MT, against last week.
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