Posted on 13 Jan 2020
The mood in the Philippine billet import market remains generally firm on Friday, Kallanish notes. Offers for imports are either holding or slightly higher from the week before. However, a higher-priced deal and a lower-priced offer has generated some debate in the market.
A booking for 10,000 tonnes of 130mm square blast furnace billet from Malaysia at $451-452/t cfr Manila last Thursday drew interest because it concluded higher than previous deals at around $445/t cfr Manila.
An importer said he did not understand why the booking took place since offers for billet from Russia and Qatar are available at $450/t cfr Manila. “Is it the chemistry or the shipment date,” he asks. Kallanish was not able to confirm whether the cargo was for February or March shipment.
“It is a small order so it could be one-off and not necessarily a benchmark,” a trader says. He was seeing all offers at above $450/t cfr. A regional trader says that the deal took place because of limited offers in the market.
Conversely, an offer for Malaysian EAF billet at $442-443/t cfr Manila was greeted with mixed views. “That’s cheap, but it doesn’t make sense,” a trader says. “I believe that $450/t cfr is already too high,” another says. He thinks that other exporters may lower prices soon. A buyer says that he is unsure how serious the offer is.
On Friday, Kallanish raised its 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet assessment at $445-450/t cfr Manila, up $5 on week.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh hiked its domestic billet prices for February/March shipments on Friday. The hike equivalent to $8/t would raise its prices to $428/t cif Haiphong and to $433/t cif Ho Chi Minh.
This could spark an increase in Vietnamese export billet prices, a Vietnamese trader says. During the week, an offer for 10,000t of billet from Vietnam for March delivery was floating at $450/t cfr Manila. As the offer has multiple loading ports and no particular mill mentioned, the supplier is “… fishing for bids to present to prospective mills in Vietnam,” a Manila trader says.
Source:Kallanish
