Indian blast furnace (BF)-grade billet export prices continued to remain under pressure amid low demand from key importing nations. Falling sentiments and a sluggish market kept the billets market down. The gap in bids and offers widened owing to increased prices in the domestic market.
An Indian mill had floated an ocean sale export tender for 18,900 t of prime mild steel non-alloy concast billets (125x125x9000/12000 mm, 4SP/5SP) with due date for the tender as 27 June 2022, and the delivery scheduled for 31 August. According to market sources, the tender received very limited participation and may not be concluded.
Markets overview
- SE Asian imported billets offers further drop: SteelMint’s assessment of imported billets (150*150mm, 3SP) into the Philippines stood at around $580/t, CFR Manila, down by around $18/t w-o-w due to low market demand.
- Billet export prices from Russia also decline: Competitive billet offers (150mm) from the CIS are heard at around $515/t FOB this week, down $15/t w-o-w.
- Chinese imported billet prices show improvement: SteelMint’s assessment of imported billets (150*150mm, 3SP) into China stood at around $550/t CFR, up by around $20/t w-o-w. However, demand is still awaited.
- Chinese SHFE rebar futures rise sharply: Chinese SHFE rebar futures witnessed a sharp hike this week. According to data maintained with SteelMint, China’s SHFE rebar futures contract for October 2022 delivery closed at RMB 4,360/t ($651/t) on 29 June, a hike of RMB 232/t ($35/t) w-o-w.
Meanwhile, steel billet prices in China’s Tangshan increased w-o-w by RMB 120/t ($18/t) to reach RMB 4,040/t ($603/t) on 29 June 2022, inclusive of 13% VAT following a sharp hike in rebar futures.
Outlook
The Indian billets exports market is expected to remain sluggish in the days to come. However, global ferrous scrap prices have started witnessing some recovery. Turkey’s imported ferrous scrap prices have climbed up by $5-7/t in this week so far. This may lend some support to global billet prices as well.
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