Indian mills are actively looking to conclude billets exports deals but, owing to lower bids, they are shying away from closing the same.
However, the increase in the Chinese rebar futures market over the last few days has driven up sentiments. Therefore, sellers are optimistic of better realization in the coming days.
Recent billet export tenders and outcomes:
- An Indian state-owned mill floated an export tender for 10,000 t of steel billets of size 65*65mm, as per sources. The due date of the tender was 6 Jul’21 and the shipment is likely to be scheduled for end-Aug’21. According to sources the tender did not receive active participation.
- Another 30,000 t tender was floated for blooms of 150*150mm, grade: 3SP/4SP, for end-Aug shipments. The tender was due end of last week and fetched bids of around $565-567/t FoB, as per sources but due to bid-offer disparities, it was cancelled.
- Yet another tender was floated for billets of size: 90*90mm, grade: C20MMn Gr. A for 20,000 t. The tender’s due date was 5 Jul’21 and was due end of last week. It fetched bids of around $610/t FoB. According to sources, the tender was concluded. However, the destination could not be confirmed till the time of publishing this report.
- An Indian state-owned mill had floated a tender for 18,900 t of billets (4SP/5SP) for end-Aug shipment. According to market sources, the tender received bids at around $585-590/t FoB. However, mills are expecting a price level of around $600/t FoB. Owing to disparity in bids and offers, the tender has been cancelled, as per reports.
- There was an unconfirmed report of a 150*150mm billet export tender getting concluded at $580-585/t FoB from an eastern India-based mill.
SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for Indian billets (150*150mm, BF route, FoB east coast) was recorded at $580/t, FoB on 6 July’21, down by around $22/t w-o-w. Vessel freight rates and quarantine charges have continued to dent Indian export prices as total charges have increased to around $90/t for China (including freight of $60-70 and $20-25 quarantine related charges).
Chinese domestic billet prices up tracking gains in futures: According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Shanghai Futures Exhange (SHFE) rebar futures Oct’21 contracts closing price increased sharply in the last two days by around RMB 217/t ($33.5/t) to RMB 5,439/t. Domestic billet prices in China have also showed an increase of RMB 50/t d-o-d to RMB 4,960/t ($767/t) in Tangshan today, including 13% VAT.
Chinese bids for imported billets increased to around $660-670/t CFR levels yesterday and with further hike in futures today they increased further to $690/t CFR levels.
Indian domestic billet prices remain under pressure: SteelMint’s daily billet index was assessed at INR 40,650/t (exw-Raipur,IF route) on 6 Jul’21, down by INR 100/t on day. Market participants are expecting prices to remain volatile with the slight changes in the supply-demand balance, given the fact that standalone furnaces have slashed production, as reported by SteelMint.
Outlook: Indian billet exporters expect to increase offers in the upcoming days as the futures show positive changes since the last couple of days.
Leave a Reply