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 the New Year holidays.
SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment of billet (150x150mm, 3SP) imported by the Philippines currently stands at around $566/tonne (t) CFR Manila, stable, w-o-w.
Market highlights
- Vietnam’s billet export offers up w-o-w: Vietnam’s BF-grade billet export offers increased by around $10/t as against last week followed by a hike in the country’s scrap prices. Current offers are at around $560/t FOB. However, no active deals have been reported so far for current offers.
- Iranian billet export prices unchanged in recent deal: Iran’s billet export market remained largely quiet this week. Meanwhile, An Iranian mill concluded an export deal for 30,000 t of steel billets for GCC at around $480/t FOB, sources informed SteelMint. However, the majority of mills are quoting export offers of around $485-490/t, FoB Iran citing a sharp hike in domestic prices. Prices have remained supported amid a hike in scrap offers, SteelMint observed. However, a reduction in gas supplies during harsh winter in the region may result in a decline in production levels as steel mills are mandated to reduce consumption by 30%, which is likely to put steel mills under pressure and affect billet export allocations.
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