Weekly: Global billet market overview

Global billet prices are on a continuous rise on steadily increasing global scrap prices and Chinese rebar futures. The offering from major billet exporting nations saw a surge in offers. However, we witnessed limited trades on increased offers amid a wide bid-offer spread. During a conversation with SteelMint, a market participant mentioned, sizeable billet volumes are likely to be traded in the coming time, anticipated by the pre-Christmas buying.

CIS- The billet export offers from the region have jumped to $570/t, FoB Black Sea after Russia booked 10,000 t billets for Turkey $575/t, CFR (equivalent to $560/t, FoB).

India - SteelMint's bi-weekly assessment for Indian billets (150*150mm, BF route, FoB east coast) is $530-535/t, up by $15-20 against last week.

• An Indian mill reported having concluded 30,000 t (150*150mm, 4SP grade) floated for spot sale. According to SteelMint sources, the mill managed to achieve the price level of around $535/t, FoB India, up by $50 against the previous floated tender.
  
  
• On the other hand, other Indian primary mills continue to pose limited interest in the global billet market on strong domestic demand.
  
  

Iran- SteelMint's bi-weekly assessment for billet export offers from Iran is $485-500/t, FoB Iran, up by $15-20 against last week.

• It was a second consecutive week when billet export offers from the country saw a sharp hike. However, we did not witness any deals at increased offers. But during a conversation with the country's leading steel exporting mill, we learned that Iranian billets are in demand, and in the coming weeks, sizeable trades are likely to be witnessed. And hence, the mills are anticipating the price levels of atleast $490/t, FoB.
  
  
• Domestic billet prices inch up at IME, demand gets sluggish again: This week, the domestic billet prices at the Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME) inched up. However, unlike last week, the demand reported having sluggish. Approximately 90,000 t billets traded at an average price of IRR 97,868/kg ($383/t), up by IRR 777/kg ($3/t). Around 140,000 t billets reported having offered, while the base price for the trade event was IRR 96,856/kg.
  
  

SE Asia- This week, SteelMint assessment for billet import in SE Asia is $550-560/t CFR, up by $10 against last week.

• Following the global trend, the billet import offers in SE Asia have posed a steep upward tick. However, we haven't heard any substantial volumes traded at the increased offers due to the wide bid-offer spread. The imported offers in the region have crossed $565/t CFR levels. On the other hand, bids are hovering between $535-540/t, CFR.
  
  
• In a few of the SE Asian markets, the domestic billet is cheaper than the imported billet. For instance, the domestic billet prices in Indonesia are at $520/t, exw, excluding taxes. And hence, we feel it the most likely reason for a wide bid-offer spread.
  
  
• Vietnam- The BF billet export offers from the country reported having a sharp rise of $30/t, w-o-w, and are currently at $560/t, FoB Vietnam levels.
  
  
• Thailand- Billet import offers are hovering at $540-550/t, CFR, stable against last week. However, buyers have seen bidding at $530/t, CFR.
  
  

Chinese domestic billet price up by RMB 10 ($1.5) w-o-w- This week, the billet prices in the Tangshan market (northeast China) settled with a rise of RMB 10 ($1.5), against last week. The prices of commonly traded Q235 billet 150mm diameter were reported at RMB 3,690/t ($564/t) in Tangshan, inclusive of 13 % VAT. The billet transactions were moderate, while finished steel prices continue to pose an upward trend.

Global billet market snapshot-