SE Asian billet market continues remaining dull on wide bid-offer spread. The offers have crossed $610/t, FoB levels, while bids were reported at $590/t, CFR. Anticipating prices to fall, buyers are posing limited buying interest.
However, the market has somewhat started functioning in line with the anticipation of the buyers. For instance, global scrap prices softened in a deal concluded recently for Baltic origin-based bulk scrap cargo. Turkish buyers had remained quiet earlier in the week. It kept suppliers under pressure and held them back from going for a price hike.
On the other hand, the Chinese SHFE rebar futures contract witnessed a weekly drop of RMB 193 ($29) yesterday and was reported having settled at RMB 4,294/t ($664/t). The fall is being attributed to the fresh outbreak of COVID in a few Chinese provinces like Hebei, aggravated further by harsh winters. This has resulted in sluggish finished steel demand.
Deals & offers-
CIS billet export price indications correct downwards- The price indications have dropped sharply and are currently at $585-590/t, FoB Black Sea, down by $5-10/t, w-o-w. However, during the beginning of this week, offers had even crossed $600/t FoB levels. The slowdown in the global scrap market has brought down the offers from the region.
No new billet export deals reported from India recently- Export prices of Indian billet rose again, at the end of the last week, in a tender hosted by an Indian state-owned mill floated for 30,000 t billets. It reported having concluded at $575-580/t, FoB India. With this, the Indian billet export prices are now at a seven-year high. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for Indian billets (150*150mm, BF route, FoB east coast) is $575-580/t, up by $10-12 against last week.
Iranian billet export prices reported stable- Iranian billet export offers broadly remained stable this week on bid-offer disparity, amid falling Chinese rebar futures and supported by the bearish global scrap market sentiment. However, Iran’s leading steel exporter has concluded an export tender for 30,000 t billets (150*150mm) for early Mar ’21 shipments. The company managed to achieve a price level of $570/t, FoB. SteelMint’s billet export price assessment stands at $565-570/t FoB.
Vietnam billet export offers drop by $10- The BF billet export offers from the country dropped by $10 this week, and the offerings are currently standing at $590/t, FoB Vietnam (BF route). While IF route billets are offered at $585/t, FoB Vietnam.
Thailand billet import price indications range-bound- Billet import offers in the country continue hovering at $600-605/t CFR, unchanged against last week.
This week, SteelMint assessment for billet import in SE Asia is $600-610/t CFR, unchanged against last week.
Import of billets to Indonesia witness a decline: Meanwhile, billet imports in Indonesia witnessed a 10% m-o-m drop in Nov ’20 to reach 0.34 mnt. India, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia stood as the predominant billet exporters. Imports from India and Oman registered an m-o-m rise of 23% and 137% respectively, while Russian imports declined by 6%. During the Jan-Nov ’20 period, billet imports reported having witnessed a y-o-y decline of 23% to reach 3.23 mn t.
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