Posted on 29 Jan 2024
The ASEAN billet import market rose last week on higher asking prices, Kallanish notes. The hikes sought by suppliers are moderate because regional buying remains slow. Finished steel demand is weak and cannot support higher billet prices.
Most offers for 5sp 130mm or 150mm square blast furnace billet from ASEAN/China for March shipment have risen to $560/tonne cfr Manila, up by $10/t from the week before, trading sources say. A local trader says he is not receiving any bids. But a regional trader informs he sees bids at $540-543/t cfr for 5sp grade billet, while another notes bids are at $545/t cfr and perhaps $550/t cfr.
“It is very weak in Manila”, a reroller says. “Rebar prices cannot cover present billet costs.” Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $540-545/t cfr Manila, up $5 on-week.
During the week, international traders were heard to have ordered 3sp grade 150mm billet from a leading Indonesian mill for March shipment at $530/t fob for open destinations. The premium for 130mm billet is $2/t. A trader hears two traders taking 40t and 30t cargoes respectively.
Despite some talk that the Indonesian mill has sold its billet allocation through March shipment, certain regional traders disagree with this. “I don’t believe it. I am talking with them for end-March shipment,” a trader says. About the recent bookings, he believes the traders will try selling outside Asia if Asian buyers do not follow the price of $530/t fob until mid-February.
The same Indonesian mill was heard to have concluded billet export deals at $528/t fob for 3sp billet for the Latin America market at the end of the week through 19 January.
That Indonesian mill offered 3sp 150mm billet for March shipment on 25 January at $550/t cfr Jakarta. "There’s no way anyone can accept that here, it is too high," a reroller in Jakarta says. Freight from the mill's discharge port in Sulawesi to Jakarta is around $20/t.
In Thailand, customers are indicating they may book at $505-515/t cfr for Iranian billet against offers at $525-530/t cfr. Domestic induction furnace billet is priced at the equivalent of only around $505/t, a Bangkok trader says.
Source:Kallanish
