Posted on 22 Feb 2023
The surge in China’s steel futures has spurred regional import prices higher in Southeast Asia, Kallanish notes. Exporters of billet and hot rolled coil to the region are bullish and continue to hike prices.
Traders are offering 5sp billet from ASEAN, China and the Middle East at $615-630/tonne cfr Manila, compared to $615-620/t cfr last Friday. A deal for 10,000t of 5sp grade billet from Qatar was heard booked at $610/t cfr either last Friday or Monday this week. There is 10,000t of 3sp grade billet in the same March-shipment billet cargo which has not been sold. “The 3sp is still hanging in the air. Nobody wants to bid on the 3sp,” a Manila trader says.
An Indonesian blast furnace mill has increased its offer for 3sp grade billet to $630/t fob, a regional trader says on Tuesday. Buyers will not accept this level because it is too high, regional traders in Singapore say. The mill is offering 3sp grade billet now at $655/t cfr Jakarta, an end-user says. He too believes that buyers will stay at the sidelines at this level.
In Vietnam, Chinese HRC export prices are rising too. Offers for 3mm up thickness SS400 grade HRC are at $640-650/t cfr Vietnam. Vietnamese buyers are bidding at around $635/t cfr, Chinese trading sources say Tuesday. Q195 offers are heard at $645/t cfr Vietnam, and an order was last heard at $638/t cfr.
Although the market price is firm in recent days, the market is not active, a Vietnamese trader says. He does not hear of many deals taking place at $635/t cfr. Commercial grade HRC deals had touched lows of $600-605/t cfr Vietnam at the start of the 13 February week.
Chinese traders report that 20,000t of 2mm up thickness SAE 1006 HRC from China for April shipment was recently ordered at $670-673/t cfr Vietnam. This level is no longer valid because latest offers are prevailing at $685/t cfr and upwards, a Chinese trader says.
The price of $670/t cfr may be possible if from the smaller Chinese mills, Vietnamese traders say. Several offers of position cargoes of around 3.000t each are currently available at around $680/t cfr, the Vietnamese trader says.
Source:Kallanish
