Posted on 18 Oct 2021
Billet import prices have continued to firm in Southeast Asia on strong gains in international scrap, Kallanish notes. Offers are diverging as certain suppliers are trying to take advantage of firmer global market sentiment for longs.
In Manila, Russian 100mm billet is offered at $710/tonne cfr, whereas regional ASEAN blast furnace billet for December shipment is offered at $735-740/t cfr, a Manila trader reported on Friday. Indian induction furnace billet offers are at $685-695/t cfr and Vietnamese induction furnace billet at $715/t cfr, he added, pointing out there is a "wide divide among offers”.
The offer for Russian billet is lower than expected because it is for a January-shipment cargo, with Russian steel export duties to lapse from 1 January. However, one buyer heard that the Russian mill's billet offer is at $725/t cfr Manila. An order for 24,000 tonnes of Russian 125mm billet dealt at $693/t cfr Manila on 4 October.
Offers for Vietnamese billet were at $750/t cfr and from Malaysia at $745/t cfr on 12 October, a Manila importer says. The other offers he received on 13 October for EAF billet from various origins were at $711-718/t cfr Manila.
There is market chatter that a leading Philippine re-roller ordered Vietnamese blast furnace billet around 13 October at $735/t cfr, but market sources were not able to confirm this deal, nor had they heard of it. “It is possible because they have no choice [if they need to restock],” a regional trader says. But he believes, in general, it was unlikely that deals have transpired. “Prices are too high,” he adds.
Another considers the rumoured deal price as “oddly high”. He wondered if the high price was for high-manganese grade billet which the re-roller buys on a quarterly basis. Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet on Friday at $710-715/t cfr Manila, up $16 on-week.
Source:Kallanish
