The South East Asian imported billets market saw limited trade this week on high bid-offer disparities. The deals were mainly booked for the Philippines, while the other markets continued to remain sluggish. Deals of around 50,000-60,000 tonnes (t) of billets were heard to have been concluded from Russia, Vietnam and India at around $690-700/t CFR Manila.
Although, offers remained largely stable against last week amidst the volatile Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rebar market, the buying indications dropped to $670-675/t CFR. According to data maintained with SteelMint, the rebar futures market on 18 Jun’21 settled at RMB 5,061/t ($786/t), down by RMB 40/t ($6/t) on a d-o-d basis. However, on a w-o-w basis, they (futures) fell by RMB 261/t ($41/t).
Limited availability of vessels amidst stricter port guidelines in China are impeding trade. Freight from India’s Haldia Port to the Philippines is reported at $75-80/t. However, for other ports, it is around $60/t.
SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessments of imported billet offers into SE Asia are currently at $690-700/t, CFR Manila, unchanged against last week.
Russia: The Black Sea billet export offers saw a marginal drop to $640/t FoB on the volatile futures market. No substantial offerings were heard from the Far-East Russia.
India: An Indian state-owned mill reportedly sold 18,900 t of billets (125*125mm, 4SP/5SP grade) through a tender at $611-613/t FoB India for mid-Aug’21 shipments. During conversations with market participants, SteelMint learned that the cargo is likely to be shipped to a SE Asian destination.
Vietnam: According to SteelMint sources, BF-route billet offers are at $670/t FoB, while IF-route offers are at around $660/t FoB, stable against last week. However, there was an unconfirmed report of a leading mill from the country concluding a billet export deal to the Philippines at $670/t CFR. Post this deal, the export offers rose to $685/t CFR for IF-route billets and $700/t CFR for BF route billets.
Thailand: Indicative imported billet offers into the country remained stable at $700/t CFR. The offers are mainly heard from the ASEAN side, as per a SteelMint source. However, the bids are at $680-685/t CFR.
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