Indonesia's billet imports drop 14% in H1CY'21, exports surge on Chinese buying

Indonesia recorded a 14.15% y-o-y fall in its billet import volumes in the first half of CY'21 (Jan-Jun'21). The volumes stood at 1.65 million tonnes (mn t) in Jan-Jun'21 as against 1.92 mn t in Jan-June'20, according to customs data compiled by SteelMint.

Earlier this year, as per reports, the Indonesian government planned to ease rules on the import of scrap for use as a raw material for the production of steel with an aim to reduce the import of billets. This decision may have been the reason behind the decline in import volumes.

India, Russia leading billet exporters

India supplied the highest volume of steel billets to Indonesia at 0.41 million tonnes (mn t) during Jan-Jun'21. The country continued to occupy the top exporter's position with a 56% y-o-y increase as compared to 0.26 mn t in Jan-Jun'20.

Russia jumped to the second position in the top exporters' list with 0.30 mn t, followed by Oman with 0.28 mn t during H1CY'21. However, billet exports from Russia to Indonesia saw a decline of 27% in Jan-Jun'21 while those from Oman were down by 3% y-o-y.

Increased exports from the UAE in Jun'21

Indonesia's billet imports in Jun'21 stood at 0.28 mn t, witnessing a sharp rebound of 204% m-o-m as against 0.09 mn t in May'21.

However, m-o-m, the UAE was the largest exporter of steel billets to Indonesia with 0.074 mn t in Jun'21 followed by Oman and Russia at 0.07 and 0.05 mn t, respectively.

Indonesia's billet exports jump four-fold in H1CY'21

Interestingly, billet exports from Indonesia have increased sharply from 0.41 mn t during H1CY'20 to 1.58 mn t in H1CY'21. Exports to China have doubled from 0.4 mn t in H1CY'20 to 0.88 mn t in H1CY'21. Other major importers of billets from Indonesia were Taiwan and the Philippines at 0.17 and 0.10 mn t respectively.