Weekly: Global billet market overview

This week, decent billet volumes reported having traded in the global billet market. However, bid-offer disparity continued its existence on the volatile Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rebar market. On the other hand, the limited availability of vessels amidst stricter port guidelines in China impeding trade, especially on the Indian side. The volumes mainly sold were in the SE Asian region. According to data maintained with SteelMint, the rebar futures market on 18 Jun’21 settled at RMB 5,061/t ($786/t)

Russia: The Black Sea billet export offers saw a marginal drop to $640-645/t FoB on the volatile futures market. No substantial offerings were heard from the Far-East Russia.

India: SteelMint’s export assessment for Indian billets (150*150mm, BF-route, FoB east coast) stood at $610-615/t on 18 Jun’21, up by $5 against last week.

• 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.
• “Indian mills heard to be targeting $620/t FoB for BF-route billet exports,” a source said. However, due to higher freights, the Indian mills finding it hard to get the desired prices.
• Meanwhile, the secondary mills are enjoying better price realisations in a dormant market like Africa. Around 5,000 t of IF-route billet deals were heard to have been concluded by Gujarat-based mills recently. However, prices could not be confirmed till the time of publishing this report.
• The IF route billets were heard offered in the Philippines at $690/t CFR Manila.

Iran: SteelMint’s export assessment for Iranian billets stood at $640/t FoB, on 18 Jun’21.

• Iranian billet export prices saw a marginal increase against the backdrop of the recent uptrend in global trade. Although SteelMint did not witness any deals at the improved price levels, a few mills have, or are likely to float billet export tenders in the coming week, as per the Iranian calendar.
• Esfahan Steel Company (ESCO), one of Iran’s leading steel exporters, has floated an export tender for 25,000 tonnes (t) of billets, as per sources. The shipment is likely to be scheduled for Sept’21.
• Iran’s leading steel exporter, Khouzestan Steel Company (KSC), may float a tender for 30,000 t of billets in the coming week. However, the company recently sold 30,000 t of slabs through an export tender. According to sources, the company concluded the tender at $748/t, FoB Iran. The shipment schedule is for end-July, with a Far-East country as the likely destination.
• Meanwhile, no domestic billet trade was recorded on the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) this week. It seems, higher offers on the IME have kept buyers on the sidelines. It may be noted that higher production costs (hike in iron ore and scrap prices) lifted domestic offers.

SE Asia: SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessments of imported billet offers into SE Asia are currently at $690-700/t, CFR Manila, unchanged against last week.

• 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.
• 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.

China: The Chinese domestic billet prices settled at RMB 4,940/t ($766/t), ex-Tangshan, including 13% VAT on 18 June ‘21, down by RMB 70/t ($11/t) on a w-o-w basis amid the volatile SHFE rebar futures.

Global billet market snapshot: