SE Asia: Imported billet prices recover tracking Chinese price hike

• SE Asia billet offers recover on robust Chinese billet sentiment
  
  
• Indian billet export market muted amid higher domestic realisations
  
  

The Southeast Asian imported billet prices recovered this week. Rising Chinese rebar futures and billet prices post QingMing festival holidays influenced billet players to raise billet offers. Billet buyers remain cautious, as market participants have not floated billet tender in the global market, it is expected that billet prices will rise further in near future.

As per sources, billet import offers were recorded at $515/tonne (t) CFR Manila, hiked by $15/t w-o-w. According to BigMint's bi-weekly assessment, billet import prices went up by $15/t w-o-w to $510/t CFR Manila on 12 April.

Vietnam's billet export offers inched down by $5/t at the range of $500-505/t FOB this week.

Notably, post QingMing festival holidays, Chinese billet prices inched up by RMB 70/t ($10/t) w-o-w to RMB 3,410/t ($471/t) exw Tangshan on 12 April against 8 April. Rise in finished steel prices and rebar futures post holidays have supported the billet prices. Meanwhile, Chinese SHFE rebar futures recorded a hike of RMB 68/t ($9/t) w-o-w to RMB 3,628/t ($501/t) on 12 April against 8 March.

However, Turkish imported ferrous scrap market, activities remained paused due to religious holidays. Turkish steelmakers mostly kept quiet with slow activities this week due to Ramadan-related festivities, with trade recovery expected next week. According to BigMint, HMS 1 and 2 (80:20) prices from the US stood at the range of $380-384/t CFR on 9 April,2024.