Billet prices from Asian mills have remained high this week and overall trading has been mainly on pause as prices are too high for buyers and most sellers are holding back from giving official offers. Uncertainty regarding the price trend in China is adding to the situation.
Offers for ex-Indonesia billet are still at $500/mt FOB and some sources said that the Indonesian mill is officially offering for February shipment. “I believe that they still have some January shipment volumes, but don’t want to sell now,” an Asian trader said. Another large trader commented that the tradable levels for ex-ASEAN billet would be at $490-500/mt FOB, but “there are very limited firm offers."
Prices for ex-Malaysia billet and slabs have been announced at $500/mt FOB since late last week. “It seems that one batch of Malaysian billets is possible at $540-545/mt CFR [Turkey], but no one is giving hard offers,” a trader in Turkey said.
Ex-China billet reference prices are at $470-480/mt FOB, relatively stable over the past week. A few traders said that this level reflects the local market, but the real offers would be closer to $490/mt FOB. “Actually, Chinese mills are not offering [for export]. They are focusing on the local market,” a large Chinese trader said. The highly-awaited briefing last Saturday at which the finance minister was expected to announce new stimuli failed to result in any specific measures. Consequently, the local steel market in China is characterized by uncertainty, and also because of the situation regarding futures prices, which increased on Monday and have retreated again today.
At the same time, Asian traders, which had taken positions from mills earlier, are still ready to offer ex-China 3SP billet at $490/mt CFR Manila. Moreover, at least one 20,000 mt cargo for optional Indonesian or Vietnamese 5SP billet is also available, at $490/mt CFR to the Philippines.
Last week, a deal for Russian vanadium-added billet was signed to Taiwan, equivalent to $475-485/mt CFR for base 3SP grade.