SE Asia: Billet Import Offers Drop by USD 20/MT W-o-W

SE Asia billet import market was reported sluggish this week amid ongoing Tet holidays in Vietnam and falling global scrap prices. SteelMint learned from market participants that, imported scrap prices to Turkey have dropped by a significantly in a fresh deep sea cargo booking concluded from USA, while the sharp downturn is now expected to reflect in global offers to major import markets worldwide.

Meanwhile, the corona virus has further weakened the global billet market sentiments; the virus has originated from Wuhan city of China and has now started spreading all across the globe. The SE Asian region along with Far East Asian countries including China have been detected with this virus. According to marketers, a hefty trade loss is expected due to the virus as construction activities will get slow down until substantial cure comes into the market.

Owing to above factors, SteelMint assessment for SE Asia billet imports has fallen sharply and is standing USD 415-420/MT, CFR, down USD 15-20/MT against last week.

Billet export offers from CIS witness sharp drop- CIS billet export offers drops marginally by USD 5-10/MT amid disparity between bids and offers and fallen Turkey's imported scrap prices have support the event. This week, billet export assessment from CIS nations are at USD 385-390/MT, FoB Black Sea.

Jan'20 remained slow for Turkish scrap import market with only few bulk bookings being concluded on wide gap between suppliers' offers and bids from buyers. According to sources, in view of the falling finished steel export prices in Turkey, buyers are unlikely to accept higher offers in the short term, and a further slide in prices in fresh bookings in the coming days cannot be ruled out.

SteelMint's assessment for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from USA origin stands at USD 272/MT CFR Turkey, down by over USD 10/MT against last week, while the assessment from Europe stands at USD 267/MT CFR.