Posted on 18 May 2022
Long products markets remain bearish in Southeast Asia, Kallanish notes. Trading sources anticipate the market will remain soft and prices are yet to bottom.
In the Philippines, an Indonesian blast furnace mill’s highly competitively offer for 130mm square 5sp billet at $700-705/tonne cfr surprised regional trading participants. The mill, which was previously producing 150mm and 165mm square billet, started offering 130mm square billet this month. “I presume that the mill modification on the casting machine was effected in April,” a Philippine buyer says. “This is the first batch,” a regional trader adds. Re-rollers in the Philippines tend to use smaller billet sizes.
An offer for a minimum of 20,000-30,000 tonnes of 130mm billet for shipment by end-July at $690/t cfr Manila and $678/t cfr for 5sp and 3sp grade respectively was received late on Tuesday, a trader reports. It is probably from a trader inviting bids since it is subject to reconfirmation. He believes these prices may not be workable because the market could slide further next week. Another says he did not think that any offer price can be deemed overly low in the current market. Billet offers were heard at $700/t cfr Manila and above last Friday.
The Indonesian mill was offering 150mm 5sp billet at $690/t cfr Jakarta on 17 May, importing sources say. "They said that exports have slowed down a lot," an Indonesian re-roller observes.
Vietnam’s Hoa Phat reduced its rebar and wire rod prices by VND 300,000/t ($13/t) and VND 400,000/t respectively effective 17 May. The mill’s new rebar and wire rod prices are the equivalent of $720/t and $730/t respectively, ex-works basis. “Demand in Vietnam is weak,” a Vietnamese trader says.
Source:Kallanish
