Posted on 03 Jul 2023
The Philippine billet market has softened, Kallanish notes. Billet from a key regional exporting mill fell on Thursday.
A leading re-roller ordered 20,000-30,000 tonnes of 5sp grade billet for end-July/August shipment from a key Indonesian exporting mill at $520/tonne cfr Manila, importing and Chinese trading sources say.
An importer in Manila says he has seen the offer and heard of the deal to the leading re-roller. He adds there are buyers aiming to book at $515/t cfr, “but [offers are] not there yet”.
A regional trader says, in addition to the leading re-roller's booking, another Philippine re-roller also concluded 3sp billet from the Indonesian mill at $515/t cfr. He understands the mill's Philippine sales comprised two 20,000t cargoes for August shipment.
The mill’s volatile pricing is hard to understand, some traders say. Some hear that the mill raised its export price for 3sp billet on Friday to $505/t fob. A regional trader says he is “quite confused” because the mill was saying that its offer for 5sp billet is at $535/t cfr Manila on Friday. Offers for 5sp grade billet for open origins of ASEAN/China for August shipment have risen to $525-530/t cfr Manila from $520-525/t cfr on Thursday, a Manila trader noted on Friday.
Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $520/t cfr Manila, down $7.5 on-week.
The Indonesian mill was heard to have sold base-grade billet of either 1sp or 3sp grade at $500/t fob in the local market on Thursday. The mill’s offer was at $520/t fob on Tuesday, and it slipped to $510/t fob on Wednesday and then $500/t fob, a trader based in Jakarta says. With freight to Java Island at $25/t, he does not think his customers will pay $525/t cfr. There is an $8/t extra for 5sp grade billet. The price reduction is “because they [the mill] offered at higher than the market, so they adjusted to a suitable level now,” he explains.
On Friday, a Thai trader was offered 4sp 150mm billet from the Indonesian mill at $520/t cif Thailand, for shipment by 10 August. He is working on trying to get a bid at $515/t cif.
Source:Kallanish
