- Export allocations from the primary mills continue to remain limited.
- Two western India based secondary mills booked 6,000 t and 5,000 t billets at $545/t and $550/t, respectively, on an FoB India basis, for Africa destination.
- SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for Indian billet export offers (150*150mm, BF route, FoB East coast) is $560-570/t, up by $10-15/t, w-o-w.
Amid limited export allocations from primary mills, it has been reported that 11,000 t IF grade billets have been booked from the Western coast of India. According to SteelMint sources, two Western India based secondary mills booked 6,000 t and 5,000 t billets at $545/t and $550/t FoB India basis from Kandla port. The shipment is likely to be scheduled for an African destination.
By and large primary mills remained quiet and were seen catering to the domestic market. However, during the conversation with market participants, we learned that indicative billet export offers from India hovered between $580-600/t, FoB India.
The buyers across the globe are hesitating to make bookings due to the new year holidays. The falling Chinese rebar futures are also restricting the bookings. Today, it reported having settled at RMB 4234/t ($648/t), down by RMB 134/t ($21) w-o-w. On the other hand, global scrap prices are holding the billet prices at high levels. The event has resulted in a high bid-offer disparity.
SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for Indian billet export offers (150*150mm, BF route, FoB East coast) is $560-570/t, up by $10-15/t, w-o-w.
Outlook: Indian billet export prices are likely to witness an upward trend as Russia is mulling over to impose an export duty on billets and rebar. Federal Anti-monopoly Service of Russia (FAS) has proposed a 13% duty on billet exports and a 12% duty on rebar exports. So far, no circular to this effect has been rolled by the Russian Government but this sentiment could push the Indian billet export prices. Russia exported around 10.93 mn t billets during Jan-Oct ’20.
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