News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 14 Dec 2021

India: Billets export shipments fall for third straight month in Nov'21

India, one of the leading exporters of steel billets, saw a fall in shipments for the third consecutive month in Nov’21. The volumes stood at 0.27 million tonnes (mn t) last month, a 22% m-o-m fall as against 0.34 mn t in Oct’21, as per customs data collated by SteelMint.

Nepal, Kenya top importers, exports to China plunge

Nepal and Kenya emerged as the leading importers of steel billets from India at 0.06 mn t each. Exports to Nepal from India witnessed a significant increase of 20% m-o-m.

Indonesia and China, both acquired the second position among the top importers’ list with 0.05 mn t each. However, China’s billets import from India recorded a sharp fall of 64% m-o-m.

Exports down y-o-y in Jan-Nov’21

Exports of the material from India in Jan-Nov’21 stood at 5.38 mn t, a y-o-y decrease of 12% compared to 6.14 mn t in the same period last year.

China was the largest importer of steel billets with 1.3 mn t, down 57% y-o-y in Jan-Nov’21 followed by Nepal and Indonesia with 0.98 mn t and 0.59 mn t, respectively.

Factors weighing down Indian billets export bookings

• Bid-offer disparities: Higher bids for steel billets from the Indian domestic market as compared to those from key importing nations like China and South East Asia kept export bookings low. Almost no firm bids for imported billets were heard from these countries recently.
• Higher realisations in the domestic market:  Indian mills had raised long steel prices sharply in Nov’21. The monthly average of SteelMint’s BF-route rebar price assessment was recorded at INR 60,700/t exw-Mumbai, up by INR 3,000/t m-o-m. Also, SteelMint’s daily steel billets (IF-route) index was assessed at a monthly average of INR  42,600/t exw-Raipur in Nov’21. Thus, higher domestic finished long prices have kept mills’ price expectations on the higher side even for the exports bookings. On the other hand, the monthly average of SteelMint’s assessment of BF route billet (150mm) export increased sharply from $615/t FoB in Sept to $630/t in Oct before falling to $600/t in Nov’21.
• China’s rebar futures, domestic billet prices volatile: Volatility in China’s rebar futures and lower domestic prices affected the country’s imports. SHFE rebar futures closed at RMB 4,216/t in mid-Nov’21, falling from RMB 4,646/t assessed in end-Oct’21. Following the drop in rebar futures, domestic steel billets prices in China’s Tangshan region fell to RMB 4,290/t ($674/t), inclusive of 13% VAT, towards end-Nov’21 vis-a-vis RMB 4,900/t ($770/t) assessed towards end-Oct’21.

Outlook

Indian billets export market is expected to remain under pressure with China holidays coming up at a time when the uncertainty of the new corona variant prevails across the globe. Also, steeper production cuts and volatility in Chinese steel futures continued to weigh down sentiments in the exports market. Thus, billets export volumes are likely to remain on the lower side in the short term.

Source:SteelMint