Weekly round-up: Global billet prices head south on weak market sentiments

The global billet market remained silent throughout this week on bid-offer disparities, subdued finished steel sentiments and limited trading activity.

The volatility in China’s SHFE rebar futures and cheap Russian billet offers have kept deals at bay. According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Chinese SHFE rebar futures contract for October 2022 delivery closed at RMB 4,670/t ($688/t) on 13 May 2022, witnessing a sharp fall of RMB 64/t ($9/t) w-o-w.

Market highlights

• Indian billet export price indications drop on lower bids: Indian BF-grade billet export price indications fell sharply on drop in bids followed by competitive offers from CIS nations and a fall in scrap offers. Lack of clarity in the market led to incoherent buying decisions. Indian steel mills are still showing a lack of interest in the ongoing billet export bids. On the other hand, the zero-Covid situation in China made the billet market more proactive. SteelMint’s bi-weekly price assessment for Indian billet exports (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP, BOF route) stood at around $705/t FOB on 13 May 2022, down $30/t, w-o-w.
• Iranian steel billet export prices fall by $40 in a recent deal: An Iranian mill has concluded an export deal for 40,000 t of steel billets. The deal was concluded at around $610/t FOB for the mid-Jun’22 shipment. Iran’s billet export prices have fallen sharply by around $40/t as against the prices assessed yesterday. Owing to cheaper billet offers by Russia and a drop in global scrap and billets prices, Iranian export offers have come down. Meanwhile, a few more billet tenders from key mills like Khorasan Steel, Arfa and Sirjan are in the pipeline.
• SE Asian billet import price downtrend continues: South East Asia’s imported billet prices continued their downward trend this week due to low buying interest, weak finished steel sales and falling raw material prices. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment of billets (150*150mm, 3SP) imported by the Philippines currently stands at around $700/t CFR Manila, a significant fall of $55/t w-o-w.
• Vietnam’s billet export offers down: Vietnam’s BF-route billet export offers stood at $695/t FOB, a w-o-w drop of $15/t. Weak buying interest, falling prices of raw materials and domestic scrap continue to weigh down offers.
• Thailand’s imported billet prices fall: Indicative imported billet prices into the country were hovering at around $710/t CFR, a significant fall of around $30-40/t, w-o-w. Also, offers from Russia were heard at around $650-660/t on CFR levels.
• China’s billet prices fall towards the weekend: Steel billet prices in China’s Tangshan witnessed a sharp fall of RMB 100/t ($15/t) w-o-w. Prices stood at RMB 4,660/t ($686/t), inclusive of 13% VAT, on 13 May.