This week, decent trade volumes were reported in the global billet market. Demand was noted to be reviving from China, which got soften in the last week. Also, iron & steel futures in China reported a sharp increase this week, resulted in lifting domestic billet prices which is currently driving the billet imports in the country.
Where billet export offers from India were noted to witness a marginal rise, the prices from Iran and CIS Nations were reported to be stable.
CIS- The billet export offers from the region were noted stable at $360-365/t, FoB Black Sea.
India- SteelMint’s assessment for Indian billet (150*150mm) export stands at $380-385/t, FoB, up $5 against as last week.
- Indian mills were reported to have booked decent trade volumes this week with a marginal rise in the export offers. Indian billet export market prices were reported to witness marginal rise after remaining stable for the two-consecutive week.
- An Indian mill was reported to have booked 20,000 t billets for China, at the end of the last week. According to sources reported to SteelMint, this deal was done off-tender for 150*150mm size at $380/t, FoB India. The shipment is scheduled for end-Aug’20 from Paradip port.
- The same mill was reported to have booked 20,000 t billets (125*125mm, 5sp) through tender at 380/t, on FoB basis. The shipment is scheduled for end-Aug’20 from Haldia port.
- On the other hand, the other billet export majors of India like JSPL were reported silent. However, the mill is offering billets at $408-411/t, on a CFR basis.
Tenders in the pipeline – - RINL 30,000 t bloom export tender- The company has floated a bloom export tender for 30,000 t blooms against 100% advance payment terms. The grade and size offered in the tender are 3SP/4SP and 150*150mm respectively. The shipment is scheduled for 25 Aug’20 and the tender due date is 14 Jul’20.
- RINL 60,000 t bloom and billet export tender- The company has invited the bids for export of 30,000 t bloom and 30,000 t billets. The size offered in the tender is 150*150mm, while the grade mentioned is 3SP/4SP. The tender due date is 10 Jul’20 and the delivery is scheduled for mid-August.
Iran- SteeMint assessment for billet export offers from Iran has risen and is at $370-380/t FoB Iran, up by $5-8 against last week.
- After witnessing a trade silent week, the Iranian billet export market hit some deals for China this week. For instance, one of the leading exporters of Iran has booked around 40,000 t billets for China through tender at $375-380/t, on FoB Iran basis. However, this deal was supposed to get concluded in the last week, but since the mill was not getting desired price levels, hence it extended the tender due date.
- The rise in iron & steel futures pushed the Iranian billet prices- Till the beginning of this week, Chinese buyers were bidding at $395/t, CFR i.e $360-365/t, FoB Iran levels, while mills were looking for $365-370/t, FoB levels. However, yesterday due to an increase in iron & steel futures in China resulted in higher bids for Iranian billets. The event has also supported the Iranian mill to fetch the high deal value. According to sources, reported to SteelMint, the bids for Iranian billets are currently at $405-407/t, CFR.
- Iranian Mercantile Exchange witnessed no billet deals on 08 Jul’20: This week, no deals were reported at IME, as the Iranian government has canceled all deals due to price guidelines violation. The total quantity offered by the mills was noted to be around 92,000 t and the set base price was reported to be IRR 57,317/kg ($323/t) while the prices soared to IRR 82,000/kg ($381/t) and hence and hence all deals got canceled.
SE Asia- This week’s SteelMint assessment for billet import offers in the SE Asia region is at $400-410/t, CFR, down $5 against last week.
This week, the SE Asian billet import market was noted to have booked limited billets amid slow demand. While the billet import prices in the region were reported to be stable. The billet export offers from different countries for SE Asia are mentioned below-
SE Asia Billet Exports
- China books 60,000-70,000 t billets from Vietnam and Malaysia- Vietnam’s Hoa phat was reported to have booked around 30,00-40,000 t billets for China, during the start of this week. According to sources reported tox` SteelMint, the deal value was noted to be at $410-415/t, CFR, and the shipment is scheduled for end-Aug’20. With this deal, the billet export offers from the country were noted a marginal increase against last week and is currently at $401/t, FoB, up $5-6 against last week.On the other hand, Malaysia was also noted to have booked 30,000 t billets for China at a similar price level as that of Vietnam i.e. $410-415/t, CFR.
High domestic prices are driving the billet imports in China- This week, Chinese domestic billet prices closed with a significant rise of RMB 90, against last week’s closing. The prices of commonly traded Q235 billet 150mm diameter were reported at RMB 3,390/t ($485/t) in Tangshan. Hence Chinese buyers are preferring importing billets over the domestic purchase.
Global billet snapshot
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