Posted on 11 Mar 2022
East Asian traders are bracing for more price movements in the regional billet import market, Kallanish notes. Certain suppliers lowered offer prices for certain segments in the billet import market on Thursday. Traders view this as some form of price correction after relentless price hikes amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Induction furnace billet from Thailand is offered at $720/tonne fob, down from the transacted $740/t fob earlier this week. Thai EAF billet sold at $750/t fob last week, Thai trading sources say.
Some traders say Chinese suppliers are once again making export offers for mostly 150mm 3sp grade billet at $790-800/t cfr Southeast Asia. “I heard that some traders are reselling billet out from China,” a Shanghai trader says. A Manila trader meanwhile observes: “I heard that these are possibly from other origins that they now want to export at a profit.” But this size and grade billet attracts limited buying interest in the Philippines.
“With prices softening this week, buyers would probably want to wait and see,” says a Hong Kong trader who thinks Chinese sellers' prices are too high. A regional trader says the tumble in crude oil prices has triggered the market softening. A prompt cargo offer for Vietnamese induction furnace billet for March/early April shipment at $830/t cfr Manila has not attracted buyers. “Now the mill will consider any bid. The chasing after higher prices may be over soon,” he adds.
A 5,000-tonne cargo of Japanese EAF 130mm 5sp billet was ordered on 8 March at $800/t cfr Manila. There was also an offer for 20,000t of Malaysian blast furnace 120mm 5sp billet at $820/t cfr at around the same time.
“I think that the market will still remain firm and on the uptrend,” a Singapore trader says. “But the panic buying by people who needed to continue running and were caught in supply bottlenecks is unlikely to happen in the future.” The Manila trader concludes: “The effects of the war may have already been factored into recent spikes. Or this could be the calm before a more powerful storm.”
Source:Kallanish
