Vietnam’s leading steel mill, Hoa Phat, was heard to have lowered its billet export offers by around $40/tonne (t) w-o-w amid subdued domestic sales on extended lockdown restrictions due to rising Covid cases. According to reliable sources, BF-route offers are at $660-665/t CFR China (equivalent to $640/t FoB) compared with $705/t CFR China assessed a week back.
A sharp decrease in Chinese re-bar futures weighed down sentiments in the imported billets market.
Market highlights
- Lockdown continues to impact the Philippines billet imports market: South East Asia’s imported billets prices witnessed a decline in recent deals concluded from Vietnam. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessments of imported billet offers into South East Asia currently stand at around $660-665/t, CFR Manila, down by $30/t against last week. However, the market seems to be silent and buyers’ interest has been affected owing to soaring Covid cases resulting in the lockdown extending till 31 Aug’21.
- Thailand billet price indications down: Indicative imported billet offers into Thailand are hovering around $660/t CFR from various origins, down by around $ 40/t w-o-w.
- Indian billet export market cools down: The Indian billet export market has turned silent this week after witnessing few trade activities last week. A State-owned steelmaker had floated export tenders for 30,000 t of blooms (size 150mm, grade: 3SP/4SP) which were due on 18 Aug’21 for Oct’21 delivery with bid validity till 24 Aug’21. The tender fetched the highest bid at around $610-614/t, FoB levels, as per trade sources.
- Iran’s billet export market silent in absence of allocations: Iran, one of the leading billet exporters, has continued to remain silent for yet another week. No movement has been reported in the market. In addition to power outages, the government-imposed lockdown to curb rising Covid cases has limited trade further. Iranian mills have kept away from quoting any offers for billet exports at present, SteelMint understands.
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