Indian billet export prices remain stable for the second consecutive week

After witnessing multitudinous dramatic moves, an Indian mill was reported to have concluded 30,000 t (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP) bloom export tender floated for spot sale. According to SteelMint sources, the company managed to achieve a price level of $415-420/t, CFR. The shipment is likely to be shipped by the end of Nov'20 to a SE Asian destination.

SteelMint assessment for Indian billet export offers (150*150mm, FoB east coast) is at $415-420/t FoB, unchanged against last week.

Chinese bids for Indian billets remained unchanged: Currently, ASEAN imports in China are reasonable than Non-ASEAN due to duty advantages. Hence, Chinese buyers have seen insubmissive in terms of bidding, in parallel with the market pace. Also, during a conversation with the market participant, SteelMint learned, the country has booked over 0.1 mn of pig iron during last week in the range of $385-390/t, CFR levels, which indicates- China could limit its billet buying.

On the other hand, the country's increasing scrap generation and strengthening of RMB against $ put it in a better position for negotiations. Chinese currency Renminbi (RMB) or Yuan, has strengthened to 6.6 against 1$ yesterday, touching the highest since Jul'18. However, the outlook remains divided because the strengthening of RMB indicates reasonable imports.

Upcoming Indian billet/bloom export tenders -