Indian billets export market silent despite Chinese buying interest

The Indian billets exports market remained quiet with a few recent tenders fetching less active responses. Bid-offer disparities, higher domestic realisations have kept Indian mills away from concluding billet export deals, SteelMint understands.

Indian mills were eyeing $620-630/t, FOB levels for 150mm, 3SP BOF route billets, sources highlighted. However, due to freight rates and competitive offers from other origins, the market remained silent.

Recent tenders

• A State-owned steel maker floated an export tender for spot sale of 30,000 tonnes (t) of steel blooms (150x150mm, 3SP/4SP grade) with the due date on 28 Sept'21. As per SteelMint sources, the tender has been cancelled on limited participation.
  
  
• A State-owned steel maker floated a tender of 18,900 t of billets (125x125mm, 4SP/5SP grade) which remained unsold. As per market sources, the tender received limited participation.
  
  

Decent Chinese billet deals ahead of holidays

Chinese billet makers turned active and concluded a decent quantity of billet deals before the Golden Week holidays (1-7 Oct 2021).

• A Russia-based mill concluded an export deal for 20,000 t of billets at $705/t, CFR China.
  
  
• Around 40,000 t of Ukrainian billets was also heard to be concluded at $705/t on CFR levels.
  
  
• An export deal from the Gulf was heard to be concluded at around $710/t on CFR basis.
  
  

Hike in SHFE rebar futures: According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Chinese rebar futures contract for Jan'22 delivery closed yesterday at RMB 5,706/t ($883/t), with a w-o-w increase of RMB 101/t ($16/t).

Domestic billet prices in China fall slightly: Steel billet prices in China's Tangshan fell on a weekly basis by around RMB 20/t ($3/t) to RMB 5,210/t ($806/t), inclusive of 13% VAT, on 30 Sept'21.

Active tender:

Vizag Steel, a State-owned steel company, has floated an ocean sale export tender for 30,000 t of steel blooms (150x150mm, 3SP/4SP grade) on FOB ST. delivery basis. The due date for the tender is 4 Oct'21, while the shipment has been scheduled for end-Nov'21.

With the ongoing power cuts in China's Jiangsu province, it is expected that steel production will remain impacted. Jiangsu is the second-largest province in China, contributing over 10% of China's total crude steel production. This region has numerous electric arc furnaces (EAFs). This is likely to keep imported billet sentiments supported after the Chinese holidays.