Posted on 13 May 2024
The ASEAN billet import market continues to be stagnant, with trading activity very thin, Kallanish notes.
In Manila, billet users are bidding at below offer levels and deals are hard to come by. Offers for 5sp 150mm square blast furnace open-origin billet from ASEAN/China for end-June/July shipment are prevailing at $520-525/tonne cfr.
Offers for 130mm billet are priced around $6-8/t higher. Manila rerollers are bidding at under $525/t cfr for 5sp 130mm billet, a trader says. He has not heard of any recent deals. The weak domestic rebar market in the Philippines is preventing rerollers from acceding to imported billet offers.
An Indonesian mill’s offer for 3sp 150mm billet remains at around $500/t fob. This is the last price at which it sold to Sri Lanka via a Chinese trader during the week through 3 May. A Jakarta trader says his company would be try to get a bid at $495-497/t if there are interested customers. This is despite the mill aiming to deal at above $500/t fob. The Indonesian market was quiet partly because there were public holidays on Thursday and Friday.
Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $520/t cfr Manila, unchanged on-week.
Elsewhere, Chinese 3sp 150mm billet for June/July shipment is offered at $520/t cfr in Taiwan. A Taiwanese trader says he did not hear of any bookings last week. Thai trading sources report that same-grade and size billet from China is being offered at $515/t cif Thailand.
Source:Kallanish
