Posted on 31 Aug 2020
The Chinese billet import market is showing signs of stability. Import buying prices are similar to the week before, Kallanish notes.
On Wednesday, a 20,000-tonne cargo for blast furnace billet from Vietnam was booked at $432/t fob – equivalent to around $442/t cfr cfr China. A billet order from the same Vietnamese mill concluded at $433/t fob the week before.
On Thursday, a 20,000t cargo of blast furnace billet from Indonesia was booked at $442/t cfr. Both the Vietnamese and Indonesian billet cargoes are due for October shipment. Prices are not going up recently because rebar inventories have increased in the past week, a Shanghai trader says. Vietnamese blast furnace billet was booked at $435/t cfr China in early August. Offers from India are noticeably absent because of the strong domestic market in India, a Chinese trader says.
In Manila, offers for billet are prevailing at $440-445/t cfr. There is a position cargo for Indian billet offered at $440/t cfr and for Russian 125mm 5sp square billet at $445/t cfr. Vietnamese induction furnace billet is offered at $440/t cfr. On Friday afternoon, there was market talk that the Russian billet offer was taken up at $440/t cfr.Manila. Trading sources could not confirm though. There are around six rerollers which use 5sp billet and they are in wait-and-see mode, a trader says. "Almost all have sufficient inventories for the rest for the year," he adds. Another has not heard of any recent deals. He attributes this to firm steel prices amid uncertainties brought about by the pandemic and the ongoing rainy season.
On Friday, Kallanish raised its 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet assessment to $430-440/t cfr Manila, up $5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
