Posted on 19 Feb 2024
The ASEAN billet import market froze last week on account of the Lunar New Year holiday, Kallanish notes. Trading was suspended because most regional suppliers and buyers were absent from the market. Business activities in China and Vietnam only officially resumed on 16 February and 15 February respectively.
There were no fresh offers nor bids last week in Manila, traders say. Previously, offers for 5sp 130mm or 150mm square blast furnace open-origin billet from ASEAN/China for March/April shipment were at under $550/tonne cfr Manila, during the week through 9 February.
However, a supplier was giving an indicative offer last week at $538-542/t cfr Manila, a reroller said on Friday. This was for 5sp 130/150mm open-origin blast furnace billet for April shipment. He thinks this price level “is still high” but adds that not much else was offered as it was very quiet during the past week.
Regional buyers’ price ideas are lagging behind current offers. A 30,000-tonne cargo of Iranian billet was booked by a Jakarta mill at $525/t cfr at end-January. "That cargo is gone and there are not many offers in the market," an importer in Jakarta notes. A leading Indonesian mill’s offer for 3sp billet was last heard around two weeks ago at $545/t cfr Jakarta.
In Thailand, buyers are aiming low for imported billet, at $505-515/t cif Bangkok. “Many mills have stopped offering billet," a Thai trader says. "There is no cheap scrap available but the domestic induction billet price was only THB 17,500/t ($486/t) in the second half of January,” he adds. The very weak Thai rebar market is preventing billet prices from lifting, he notes.
Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $535-540/t cfr Manila, unchanged on-week.
Source:Kallanish
