- Sluggish buying interest weigh on billet prices
- Absence of billet tender in global market
The Southeast Asian imported billet prices indicated downtrend this week. In the global market, absence of billet tender was recorded, keeping the billet prices at lower levels. Billet prices have been declined due to weak buying interest and weak sentiment in China amid ongoing QingMing festival holidays from 4-6 April.
As per sources, billet import offers were recorded at $500/tonne (t) CFR , down by $14/t w-o-w and bids are at around $490/t CFR, fall by $13/t w-o-w. According to BigMint’s bi-weekly assessment, billet import prices went down by $15/t w-o-w to $495/t CFR Manila on 5 April.
Notably, prior to QingMing festival holidays, in the previous week, Chinese billet prices dropped by RMB 40/t ($5/t) w-o-w to RMB 3,300/t ($456/t) on 3 April against 27 March. Sluggish demand of raw materials, drop in steel production and rebar futures have weighed on billet prices. Meanwhile, Chinese SHFE rebar futures recorded a fall by RMB 16/t ($2/t) w-o-w to RMB 3,463/t ($479/t) on 3 April against 27 March.
According to BigMint, HMS 1 and 2 (80:20) prices from the US stood at $384/t CFR on 5 April,2024, inched down by $6/t w-o-w, driven by efforts from mills to push prices down. Turkish buyers booked around 25-27 deep sea bulk vessels for late March for late April and early-mid May shipments from Europe, the US, and the Baltic regions. This could put upward pressure on prices if demand unexpectedly surges. Continued monitoring of supply chain developments is crucial.
Market highlights:
- Thailand’s imported billet offers drop w-o-w: Thailand’s imported billet offers dropped by $15/t w-o-w to around $500-510/t CFR Thailand.
- Vietnam’s billet export offers remain still w-o-w: Vietnam’s billet export offers remained unchanged at the range of $505-510/t FOB this week.