Posted on 30 Aug 2021
ASEAN mills are actively making export offers within the region, Kallanish notes. However, apart from a large booking of Vietnamese billet to the Philippines, buyers in Thailand and Indonesia are staying on the sidelines.
Most offers for October shipment of blast furnace 150mm 5sp billet from Indonesia, Vietnam and India are prevailing at $673-678/tonne cif Thailand, a Thai trader says. But buyers are bearish and not placing bids, he says.
Suppliers are inviting Thai buyers to place bids at $670-675/t cif for blast furnace billet, another Thai trader notes. But buyers are not keen and he thinks this is because they are strapped for cash amid tightened Covid curbs imposed in Bangkok since June. Thai authorities announced on 27 August that there will be an easing of movement and gathering measures effective 1 September.
Thai-origin 150mm 5sp billet is offered at $680/t cfr Jakarta. The steel market is not good now because of the lockdown which has lasted for 2.5 months, a Jakarta trader says. The lack of credit among contractors and the lack of new government projects are the causes for weak demand, a Jakarta mill manager says.
Earlier in the week, Philippine rerollers booked a total 45,000t of mostly 5sp billet from Vietnam at $675-680/t cfr. Offers are still at the same level. “The market is very slow,” a Manila mill source says. An offer for Vietnamese 130mm 5sp induction furnace billet for September shipment is circulated on 27 August at $670/t cfr. “Any interested buyer will surely bid lower,” a Manila trader says. “The market is slow but not dead. At the end of the day, there are still customers out there who will deal if they feel that the price is right,” he says.
While the current market is weak, it is also volatile, a Manila importer says. “The Chinese market changes direction every two days,” he notes on the past week. Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet on Friday at $670-680/t cfr Manila, up $5 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
