Weekly: Global billet market overview

This week, global billet prices were reported to have registered a rise against last week on increased Chinese steel futures. Yesterday, the rebar futures settled at RMB 3,747/t, compared to last week’s closing, the futures were still up by RMB 21.

CIS- The billet export offers from the region were reported to have an increase of $5/t this week, and are standing at $375/t, FoB Black Sea.

India- SteelMint assessment for Indian billet (150*150mm) export is at $395-400/t, FoB India, up $5 against last week.

• Indian mill concludes 30,000 t bloom spot export tender- An Indian mill was reported to have concluded 30,000 t spot sale bloom export tender. According to sources reported to SteelMint, the company concluded the tender at $390-395/t, on FoB India basis. The shipment is likely to ship for China by end-Aug’20. The tender was floated against 100% advance payment terms and hence fetched slightly low-price levels. The company has floated another 30,000 t bloom export tender for spot sale of which due date was 15:00:00 hrs of 24 Jul’20 and a separate tender for 60,000t blooms.
• Another Indian billet export tender for 20,000 t (150*150mm) was reported to have fetched the highest bids at $397/t, FoB levels. However, the tender is not concluded yet and is under negotiation.
• A private mill from the country was reported to have booked 30,000 t billets for China at $419/t, CFR for Sept’20 shipments last week. Chinese buyers have increased their bids to $420/t, CFR on increased steel futures. Till the start of this week, the bids were reported at $412-415/t, CFR levels, SteelMint learned from trade sources.The billet export offers from a private mill from India was noted to be at $430/t, CFR for end-Sep’20 shipments.
• The Indian domestic steel market has started reviving, and mills are likely to shift their interest towards the domestic market and hence, it is expected that billet export allocations of Indian mills for Sept’20 could get limited, SteelMint learned during a conversation with the market participant.

Iran- SteeMint assessment for billet export offers from Iran is at $375-385/t FoB Iran, identical as last week.

• Khouzestan Steel Company (KSC) has floated an export tender for billets and slabs of quantity 30,000 t each. The shipment scheduled for the tender is mid-Sept’20. The company is expecting the price levels of $385/t, FoB for billets.
• IME reported no billet trades this week- No billet trades were reported at Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME), trade sources reported to SteelMint. According to sources, volumes offered by the mills for this week were not enough to discover the prices. Last week, approximately 109,500 t billets were traded at Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME) at an average price of IRR 80,900/kg ($447/t).
• During the first Iranian quarter Apr-Jun’20, the country’s billet exports were recorded at 8,37,000 t, registering a y-o-y decline of 7%. KSC, SKS, and ESCO were noted as the major exporters. 

SE Asia- This week’s SteelMint assessment for billet import offers in the SE Asia region is at $420-430/t, CFR, up $10-12 against last week.

• SE Asian billet import market was reported silent for the consecutive week; limited trades reported, due to continuous rise in the export offers from India, and Russia. However, offers from Iran were noted stable for this week. The offers in SE Asia have reached a $440/t, CFR level while the buyers are bidding in the range of $415-420/t, CFR. The increased offers have created a huge disparity in the bids and offers, due to which the region has witnessed limited billet imports.
• Indian BF grade billet export offers for SE Asia are assessed around $430/t CFR SE Asia for Sep’20 shipment. Iranian billet export offers are standing at $420-425/t CFR, SE Asia. CIS origin billet export offers have moved up this week and are assessed at $430-440/t, CFR.

SteelMint Analysis

• According to SteeMint analysis, another reason for limited trades in the region for this week was reasonable domestic prices. Currently domestic billet prices in Indonesia are at IDR 6000/kg ($409/t), excluding 10% VAT, which could have limited the billet imports in the country.
• Thailand was reported to have booked 15,000 t billets from Iran, recently. According to SteelMint sources, the booking was made in two lots, of 10,000 t and 5,000 t, and the deal value was reported to be $377/t, and $380/t, respectively, on FoB Iran basis.

SE Asia Billet Exports

Vietnam billet export offers from the country were reported to be at $415/t, FoB, for Oct’20 shipments. The country was also noted to have booked a sizeable billet cargo for China, however, SteelMint could not confirm the deal until the publishing time of this report.

China- This week, Chinese domestic billet prices closed with a rise of RMB 10, against last week’s closing. The prices of commonly traded Q235 billet 150mm diameter were reported at RMB 3,420/t ($488/t) in Tangshan, inclusive of 13 % VAT. While billet import prices in China were hovering between $415-420/t, CFR.