Posted on 29 May 2023
The billet import market in the Philippines may have found some support after falling sharply last week amid certain traders adopting short-selling positions in the market. The rebound in Chinese steel futures on Friday appears to have suspended the continuous slide in prices from earlier in the week.
Offers for Chinese 130mm square billet for July/August shipment stood last Friday at $500-505/tonne cfr Manila for 3sp grade billet and at $505-510/t cfr for 5sp grade.
Suppliers were inviting bids at $500/t cfr for 5sp grade billet on Friday but there were no bids that morning, a regional trader notes. Since futures rose on Friday afternoon, the opportunity to book at this low level of $500/t was missed, he adds. For 3sp billet, while $500/t is an acceptable level for sellers, buyers are targeting at under $490/t cfr.
He says the timing is “important” for some deals to happen this week if Chinese market sentiment improves amid a positive price trend for scrap.
The Philippine billet market was shaken on 23 May by traders lowering prices in a bid to short-sell billet. They presented offers for 5sp grade billet at $515/t cfr, down from $525-530/t cfr on 19 May.
A Singapore trader says there was a booking for 5sp grade billet at $510/t cfr Manila around Tuesday or Wednesday but other market participants are unaware of deals taking place. With offers for 5sp billet falling to as low as $500/t cfr on Friday, and the market then suddenly turning up in tandem with the SHFE rebound, buyers were tiring, unable to follow the price volatility.
“The market situation is not good. It is hard to read the market, nobody knows really why suppliers dropped prices in the first place,” the trader laments. Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $505-510/t cfr Manila, down $15 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
