Posted on 01 Mar 2021
The Asian billet market continues to rally, Kallanish notes. Buoyant import buying in China, relentless increases in scrap and renewed market bullishness have fuelled the market surge.
Chinese import buying has touched $600/tonne cfr for ASEAN billet and $585/t cfr for non-regional billet, regional trading source say. A Vietnamese trader reports 20,000 tonnes of blast furnace 150mm 3sp billet for April shipment transacted at $600/t cfr China on 25 February. This is higher compared to previous regional billet bookings at $575/t cfr China during the week ending 19 February.
Vietnamese and Malaysian blast furnace billet were also offered during the week ending 26 February at $600-605/t cfr Manila. Prices crossed $600/t cfr Southeast Asia in early January before retreating in mid-January.
A Vietnamese trader notes that local producers prefer exporting to China because the freight cost is lower to China than to Manila. Mills will get more margin if they sell to China, he says. ASEAN billet can garner higher prices in China because regional billet exports are exempt from China’s 2% import duty, a Manila trader notes.
Russian 125mm billet is currently offered at $605/t cfr Manila and Vietnamese EAF billet at $595/t cfr, Manila importing sources say. The billet market has been quiet in Manila because prices are too high and have been rising too fast, an importer says. He and others note that domestic rebar prices are lagging behind. "Rebar prices are rising but too slowly," another source says. This is generally due to weak rebar demand, he adds.
On 26 February, Kallanish raised its 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet assessment to $590-600/t cfr Manila, up $27.5/t on-week.
Source:Kallanish
