Posted on 02 Jan 2024
The Manila billet market was inactive last week because market players were away for the Christmas and New Year holiday. However, offers remained firm and unchanged from before the Christmas weekend.
Back-to-back offers for 5sp 130mm blast furnace billet from ASEAN/China for February/March shipments are prevailing at around $550/tonne cfr, Philippine trading sources say. “The market has been quiet. Customers are mostly on holiday mode,” a Manila trader opines.
Suppliers are holding on to their offers, which were hiked on 22 December. The hiked prices are “not achievable; even $530-535/t cfr bids are a challenge”, the trader says. A regional trader agrees bids at this level are difficult to come by. “There are no transactions at all,” the trader said on Friday, noting that buyers were absent.
Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $530/t cfr Manila, unchanged on-week.
An Indonesian blast furnace mill’s offer for 3sp billet is still prevailing at $520/t fob, a Bangkok trader says. But sources close to the mill say the producer did not offer billet to the market during the week.
Source:Kallanish
