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Weekly: Global billet market overview

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BigMint Bureau

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1 Aug 2020, 13:51 IST

The global billet prices were reported to have witnessed a rise for the consecutive week, with sizeable billet volumes being traded in China and the SE Asian destinations. The price hike was supported by increased Turkey's imported scrap prices and rebounding Chinese steel futures. This week, the rebar futures were noted to have settled at RMB 3,777/t, up RMB 30 against last week's closing.

Imported scrap prices in Turkey rose further to over 4-months high in fresh deals getting concluded ahead Eid holidays. Buyers were aggressively booking bulk scrap cargoes for August and September shipments as holidays have already started in Turkey on the occasion of Eid.

CIS- The billet export offers from the region were reported to have witnessed a sharp rise of $10/t this week, on increased global scrap prices, and are standing at $380-390/t, FoB Black Sea.

India- SteelMint's assessment for Indian billet (150*150mm) export has moved up by $5-10 against last week and is currently at $400-405/t, FoB India.

Indian billet export prices were noted to have witnessed a decent rise in a recent deal concluded for China early this week. According to sources reported to SteelMint, a state-owned Indian mill was reported to have booked 20,000 t billets (150*150mm, 3 SP) for China at $400-405/t, on FoB India basis. The shipment is scheduled from Paradip port on 15 Sep'20.
An Indian mill was reported to have floated 60,000 t (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP) bloom tender for end-Sep'20 shipments. The tender due date is 13:00:00 hrs of 03 Aug'20.
Indian Tenders in the pipeline-

Iran- SteeMint assessment for FoB Iran billet price moved up by $5/t to $385-390/t.

The Iranian billet market was active this week with approximately 100,000 t billets booked for SE Asian destinations, lifting offer prices.
IME reported no billet trades for the consecutive week- No billet trades were reported at the Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME) for the second consecutive week. Confusion about change in billet price coefficients used to set iron ore prices prevented mills from offering billet at the IME, an executive of steel marketing research company Planner told SteelMint. "Yesterday, the mines ministry decided to leave the coefficients unchanged for now as this could cause inflation in end products. So, next week, mills might offer billet at the IME again," said the Planner's executive.

Most of the Iranian mills are offering for Oct'20 shipments as they are booked till Sep'20. There are concerns that current bullish sentiments may fade in August.

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

The southeast Asian billet import market was active this week after sluggish trade over the past two weeks.
Multiple bookings of over 100,000 t from Iran were concluded for different SE Asian destinations at an average price of $389/t, on a FoB Iran basis, trade sources told Steelmint.
Billet export offers from India were around $422-425/t CFR Thailand.
Billet export offers from Vietnam were at $410/t, FoB, for Oct'20 shipments, down by $5/t from last week. No export deals for Vietnam billet were seen this week.
The SE Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia are attracting the Chinese buying interest amid rising offers from India supported by duty advantages over non-ASEAN countries. For instance, recently, China was reported to have booked around 50,000 t billets from Vietnam at $420-422/t, CFR. While for Indian billet, the Chinese bids are below $420/t, CFR, a trade source mentioned during a conversation with SteelMint.

China- This week, Chinese domestic billet prices closed with a drop of RMB 30, against last week's closing. The prices of commonly traded Q235 billet 150mm diameter were reported at RMB 3,390/t ($486/t) in Tangshan, inclusive of 13 % VAT. While the billet import prices in China were noted less than $420/t, CFR, for non-ASEAN billets, unchanged against last week.

Global billet market snapshot-