Posted on 08 May 2023
The billet import market in Manila remained weak on Friday, Kallanish notes. Traders are still short-selling in the market but their offers appear to be generally similar or slightly higher than just before the Labour Day holiday.
Apart from a very low offer for induction furnace billet, the market is seeing some support and prices have not fallen as sharply as in the week prior to the holiday.
The short-selling traders are offering 3sp/5sp billet at $535-540/tonne cfr Manila, while offers for 5sp grade billet from regional mills are at $545-550/t cfr, a regional trader in Singapore said on Friday. Traders were previously seen to be shorting the market at $530-540/t cfr levels during the last week of April.
An international trader is widely heard to be offering 10,000 tonnes of 3sp 130/150mm grade induction furnace billet for June shipment from Malaysia at $505/t cfr Manila. The offer price is “eye-popping”, the trader says. Another adds that the Malaysian mill’s offer is priced so low because there is “no business”.
Manila trading sources say they do not see any other low-ball offers in the market. In fact, a Manila trader notes hearing an offer for ASEAN billet at $565/t cfr on Thursday. In the past week, market sources heard two deals for Russian billet recently being struck at $530/t cfr Manila. If billet supply remains high, the market can expect further price cuts despite Chinese futures stabilising, a Manila trader says.
Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $530/t cfr Manila, down $5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
