SE Asia: Billet imports offer stable on slow trade

The southeast Asian billet import market was stable this week amid few trades, with some support coming from a sharp increase in China's rebar futures.

SteelMint assessed billet offers in the SE Asia region at $420-430/t, CFR, unchanged from last week.

China's rebar futures increased by RMB 55/t during the week, resulting in a marginal increase in the billet import offers in the region. However, the bid-offer spread widened this week.

Vietnam likely booked 30,000 t Chinese billet at $430-435/t, CFR for Oct'20 shipments, up by $10-12/t against last week's booking.

Import offers of non-Iranian billet in the region were at $425-430/t, CFR while Iranian billet was offered at $415-420/t, CFR. However, bids were at $420/t, CFR levels for non-Iranian billets and below $415/t, CFR for Iranian billets. Billet export offers from SE Asian mills were at $430-435/t, CFR.

In the near-term, Chinese buyers may prefer non-ASEAN mills for buying billets, despite a 2% import duty due to the smaller lead time than ASEAN mills.