The bearish turn in the local billet market in India due to weaker demand and higher supply has led to the acceleration of export activity. And though prices from India have become the most competitive in Southeast Asia, the traded volumes are still limited due to the wide range of grades offered by producers and the discrepancy with buyers’ needs.
The large Indian mills have been offering 5SP or similar grades of billets at about $410-415/mt FOB, which is equivalent to $430-440/mt CFR depending on the destination. About 10,000 mt of JSPL’s billet was sold to the Philippines at $440/mt CFR this week, SteelOrbis was informed. “JSPL has been actively soliciting business in the Philippines through several traders in the last two weeks. The offers are ranging from $435/mt CFR to $443/mt CFR Manila,” a local re-roller said. Indonesian customers report that they have received offers at $430/mt CFR from India, which it was not possible to obtain from Russia.
Prices from India have been the most competitive in the Southeast Asian market recently as offers for Russian material have been coming at $440-445/mt CFR. Nevertheless, market participants doubt that Indian mills can grab a big market share as not all material they are offering is suitable for customers in Asia, while Russia is traditionally a large-scale exporter to the the region.
One large southern India-based steel mill has sold about 20,000 mt of Indian grade IS2831 billet to Indonesia at $395/mt FOB ($420/mt CFR) for September shipment. “Such Indian grade is normally priced below the market level,” an Indonesian customer said. Offers for IS2831 billet are at $395-398/mt FOB, slightly below the previous level of $400/mt FOB, but not many Asian customers can be interested in material of such quality.