This week, decent billet volumes reported having traded in the SE Asian markets and Philippines. However, bid-offer disparity continued its existence on the volatile Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rebar market. On the other hand, the limited availability of vessels amidst stricter port guidelines in China impeding trade, especially on the Indian side.
India: Mills continued to remain active in exports given the subdued domestic demand. An Indian mill reportedly sold around 18,900 t of steel blooms (200*280mm) through an export tender recently. According to SteelMint sources, the tender was concluded at around $610/t, on FoB basis, for Aug’21 shipments, with a South East Asian nation being the most likely destination.
Vizag Steel floated a spot export tender for 30,000 t of steel blooms (150x150mm, 3SP/4SP grade), as per SteelMint reports. The tender is against 100% advance payment with a due date on 25 Jun’21.
Apart from this, an eastern India-based private mill had also floated a tender for 20,000 t of billets (150*150mm) and around 50,000 t of rebars and wire rods. Due to lower bids, the mill was heard to have cancelled wire rod and rebar export tenders. However, the billet export tender may get concluded for SE Asia, sources said.
Iran – Iranian billet export offers witnessed a correction amidst a volatile Chinese steel futures market seen in mid-week. According to a few major steel mills in the country, export offers have come down to $620-625/t FoB levels. With bids declining in China, they may turn to explore opportunities in the Gulf or other countries.
Despite falling global prices and weak demand, Iranian billet producers raised their prices on the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) and less than half of the offered material was sold. High supply levels, combined with high prices shows that the billet producers are reluctant to sell their products in the domestic market and count on the exports market.
SE Asia: The BF-route billet offers from Vietnam dropped sharply by $20/t, on a w-o-w basis, amidst the volatile rebar futures market. According to SteelMint sources, BF-route offers are at $650/t FoB, while IF-route offers are at around $645/t FoB.
Thailand: Indicative imported billet offers into the country are at $680/t CFR from Indonesia and Vietnam.
China: Market sentiments turned slightly supportive on 25 Jun’21 after the steel futures in China rebounded. According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Shanghai Futures Exhange (SHFE) rebar futures Oct’21 contracts settled with a d-o-d rise of RMB 133/t ($21/t) to RMB 5,066/t. Following this, domestic billet prices in China also strengthened today to RMB 4,840/t ($750/t) in Tangshan, including 13% VAT.
Global billet market snapshot:
Leave a Reply