SE Asia: Bids for Imported Billets Fall Further on Falling Scrap Prices

This week, billet import offers in the SE Asian region witnessed a further drop amid COVID-19 outbreak, supported by fallen global scrap prices. With every passing day, the intensity of the epidemic is getting stronger in the region which has persuaded a lockdown situation in almost all major countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Although, this week, billet offers from the Black Sea were noted to be at USD 380/MT, CFR Thailand. While that from India was reported to be USD 390/MT, CFR. Similar levels were reported for Indonesia too. However, no deal was reported.

Vietnam- This week, billet export offers from Vietnam were noted to be at USD 380/MT, FoB Vietnam.

On the contrary, Indonesia has not preferred to go for the lockdown. In recent reports, the Indonesian Chief Security Minister said, "lockdown was still not an option to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia, saying that the Indonesian Military and the National Police would start to get involved in enforcing physical distancing in public." The minister added a lockdown would endanger the livelihood of people working in some sectors, especially daily workers.

The acute fall in the global billet offers was expected to drive the billet imports in the county, but depreciating IDR; Indonesian Rupiah is making the buyers hesitant to go for an import purchase.

SteelMint's assessment for SE Asia billet import at USD 370-380/MT, down USD 10 against last week.

CIS billet export offers fall further in a recent deal- CIS billet export offers were reported to witness an acute decline this week, in a recent deal to China from Russia. The country was reported to book approximately 40,000 MT billets at USD 345/MT, FoB. And the shipment is scheduled by May'20, report says. The billet export assessment from CIS nations is at USD 340/MT, FoB Black Sea, down by USD 15-20/MT W-o-W.