Posted on 23 Nov 2020
The Philippine billet import market shot up during the last week amid the sharp uptick in regional and international scrap prices, Kallanish notes. Fresh offers for billet imports appear to be limited.
A 23,000-tonne cargo of Russian 125mm billet for February shipment was booked at $480/tonne cfr Manila on 18 November. "It is a good buy," says a Manila trader. He adds that other offers are around $10/t higher. A booking from the same Russian mill took place at $452/t cfr around 5/6 November.
An offer for Japanese EAF billet for January shipment is currently priced at $488/t cfr Manila, as well as Black Sea billet for February shipment at $489/t cfr. Induction furnace billet from Vietnam is tagged at $490-497/t cfr Manila.
On Friday, Kallanish raised its 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet assessment to $480-485/t cfr Manila, up $20/t on-week.
In China, import buying interest for billet seems to have slackened in recent weeks, some trading sources note. A clampdown on water-quenched rebar appears to have dampened import buying interest for the 3sp or 4sp basic grade billet. Authorities are taking action in areas such as Tangshan, a regional trader says. This has led to more interest for high-manganese content billet of "…which deals are scarce," he says. Chinese buyers are interested in 20MnSi grade billet or vanadium-added billet.
A Chinese trader notes that buying interest has shifted to minimum 1.1% Mn billet because the water-cooling of q235 (equivalent to 3sp grade) is forbidden by the Chinese government. Imported (basic grade) billet may still be used for making wire rod or for other non-rebar applications, another regional trader says. The water-quenching process is used to increase the tensile strength of steel.
Source:Kallanish
