Ex-ASEAN billet offers remain high, only rare buyers accept hike

Tuesday, 14 November 2023 15:17:58 (GMT+3)   |   Istanbul
       

Prices for ex-ASEAN billet have remained at the same higher levels voiced last week, while the tradable level has increased over the past week, with at least one deal reported at the increased price. Nevertheless, most Asian customers are still reluctant to accept the hike.

The official offers for ex-Indonesia 3SP and 5SP billets from the mill for December shipment have been reported at $515/mt FOB, stable from last week, when prices added $15/mt. Ex-Malaysia BOF offers have been slightly lower, at $510-515/mt FOB.

A deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-Indonesia billet is heard to have been done to Latin America at $512/mt FOB last week with the freight estimated at $35-40/mt for a large volume. “This destination is high-priced, but in Southeast Asia buyers will pay around $500/mt FOB only,” an international trader said.

Even though the acceptable prices for billets are relatively low in Asia, mills are unlikely to cut offers in the near future, given the sizable slab sales over the past few weeks. In particular, one of the Malaysian producers has traded 80,000-90,000 mt of slabs to Turkey, while the Indonesian producer has managed to sell 150,000-180,000 mt of slabs to other destinations, also for December shipment. In total, the monthly slab and billet allocation from Indonesia and Malaysia is hardly below 400,000-450,000 mt, so with the latest billet and slab sales the bigger part of December shipment material is sold out.

The Steelorbis reference price for imported billet in Southeast Asia has settled at $520-525/mt CFR, versus $520/mt CFR late last week as, even though bids are still low, market sources believe that buyers will have to accept some increases sooner or later. “Bids from Manila are still insufficient, at $515/mt CFR for BOF billet,” a Chinese trader said. At the same time, the lowest offers for ex-ASEAN BOF billet from traders are still reported at $525-530/mt CFR Manila, while ex-Malaysian IF billets have been available at $520/mt CFR, also with no deals so far.

Ex-China 3SP billet prices have remained at late last week’s levels of $510-520/mt FOB, with most offers near the higher end of the range. The average local billet price in China is settled at RMB 3,665/mt ex-warehouse on November 14 or $452/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT. Prices have added RMB 72/mt ($10/mt) over the past week.

$1 = RMB 7.1768


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