South East Asia’s imported billet market continued to remain silent on low buying interest and sluggish finished steel demand in the region ahead of Christmas and New Year holidays.
Also, the market slowed down as the current situation in China is uncertain due to reports of a rise in Covid cases. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment of billet (150x150mm, 3SP) imported by the Philippines currently stands at around $566/tonne (t) CFR Manila, a marginal fall of around $5/t, w-o-w.
Market highlights
- Vietnam’s billet export offers up w-o-w: Vietnam’s BF-grade billet export offers increased by around $5/t as against last week. Current offers are at around $550/t FOB. However, no active deals have been reported so far for current offers.
- Thailand’s imported billet prices edge up: Imported billet offers stood at around $560/t CFR, up by around $10/t w-o-w, as per sources. However, low buying still prevails in the market.
- Iranian billet export prices rise: Iranian steel billet export prices continued to head north in a recently-concluded deal. A recovery in global scrap prices has kept billet export prices supported, SteelMint noted. An Iranian mill concluded an export deal last week for 30,000 t of steel billets for shipment to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region at around $475/t FOB, sources informed SteelMint. Prices have corrected upwards by around $10/t as against the last concluded tender at the beginning of the previous week. SteelMint’s latest assessment of Iran’s billet (3SP) export prices stood at around $470/t FOB on 23 December, up marginally by around $2/t, w-o-w.
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