Weekly round-up: Global billets prices remain supported

Global billets prices maintained its upward trend despite weak Chinese and Egyptian buying, volatility in rebar futures and ongoing geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Chinese SHFE rebar futures contract for May’22 delivery closed at RMB 4,617/t ($731/t) on 25 Feb’22, a sharp w-o-w fall of RMB 162/t ($26/t).

Meanwhile, no firm offers were heard from CIS nations due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine tension which left the market participants perplexed. Buyers were in a wait-and-watch mode to get more clarity before making any decision.

Market highlights

• Indian billets export trade silent on slow demand: The Indian billets export market remained subdued with limited deals seen since the last one week. A couple of recently floated bloom export tenders by Indian mills were heard to have been cancelled due to dull participation. SteelMint’s bi-weekly price assessment for Indian billets exports (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP, BOF route) stood at $650/t FOB on 25 Feb’22, stable w-o-w. Meanwhile, State-owned Vizag Steel has floated an ocean sale export tender for 30,000 t of steel blooms (150x150mm, 3SP/4SP grade) on FOB ST. delivery basis against 100% advance payment terms. The due date for the tender is 3 Mar’22 and the delivery is scheduled for 20 Apr’22.
• Iranian billets export market slows down amidst uncertainty: Iran’s billets export market remained less active this week. Lesser firm bids from China, geopolitical conflict between the two CIS nations and change in Egypt payment system kept trade activities slow. However, an Iranian mill concluded an export deal for 30,000 t of steel billets (130*130mm, 3SP) at $603/t FOB recently this week. SteelMint’s latest assessment of Iranian billets (3 SP) exports stood at $603/t FOB on 25 Feb’22.
• SE Asian billets import offers increase: South East Asian imported billets prices witnessed a further increase this week despite the volatility in Chinese rebar futures and ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment of imported billets (150*150mm, 3SP) into the Philippines currently stands at around $720/t CFR Manila, a significant rise of around $15-20/t w-o-w.
• Vietnam’s billets export offers rise: Vietnam’s BF-route billets export offers stood at $715/t FOB, an increase of around $20/t w-o-w. However, no deals were heard to have been concluded this week.
• Thailand’s imported billets prices up: Indicative imported billets prices into the country were hovering in the range of around $695-700/t CFR, up by around $5-10/t CFR, w-o-w.
• China’s billets prices fall towards the weekend: Steel billets prices in China’s Tangshan witnessed a sharp fall of RMB 100/t ($16/t), w-o-w. Domestic billets prices stood at RMB 4,530/t ($717/t), inclusive of 13% VAT, on 25 Feb’22.