The Indian billet export market has turned silent this week after witnessing few trade activities last week. The recent Indian billet export tenders floated by mills saw a sharp decline against last week. The sharp decline in Chinese steel futures on the back of demand concerns over steel production cuts has weighed down bids.
Last week, an Indian government-owned mill had booked for export another parcel of 30,000 t of steel blooms (150x150mm) at around $625/t FoB (against advance payment). The shipment is scheduled within 45 days from the export agreement.
Another mill had floated an export tender for 18,900 t of steel billets (150x150mm, 4SP/5SP grade) for mid-Oct’21 shipment, with the due date for the tender on 16 Aug’21. According to sources, the tender was not concluded due to limited participation.
A State-owned steelmaker had floated export tenders for 30,000 t of blooms (size 150mm, grade: 3SP/4SP) which were due on 18 Aug’21 for Oct’21 delivery with bid validity till 24 Aug’21. The tender fetched the highest bid at around $610-614/t, FoB levels, as per trade sources.
“Bids of imported billets into China have come down from $685/t CFR levels assessed earlier in the week to $650-660/t CFR currently. There are hardly any firm offers or bids at the moment,” highlighted a trade source.
Chinese steel futures extend declines: According to data maintained with SteelMint, China’s re-bar futures contract for Jan’22 delivery closed today at RMB 5,017/t ($773/t), witnessing a significant d-o-d decline of RMB 127/t ($19/t). The futures have fallen sharply by RMB 465/t ($72/t) against the closing of last week due to weaker market fundamentals on Chinese steel production cuts.
Domestic billet prices in China drop following futures trend: Steel billet prices in China’s Tangshan fell sharply d-o-d by RMB 100/t ($15/t) on 19 Aug’21. Domestic billet prices stood at RMB 4,880/t ($752/t) inclusive of 13% VAT.
Other tenders lined up:
State-owned steelmaker Vizag Steel has floated export tenders for 25,000 t of steel billet (size: 65x65mm, grade: C20MMn Gr. A). The tender’s due date is 23 Aug’21 and shipment is slated for the first week of Oct’21.
Leave a Reply