Weekly round-up: Global billet market exhibits weak sentiment w-o-w

The global market for steel billets exhibited weak sentiment this week. Notably, sluggish demand of billet kept market players inactive due to insufficient demand in the region, absence of billet export trade activities amid bid-offer disparities and volatility in Chinese rebar futures.

Meanwhile, Turkiye's import scrap prices remained largely stable as mills are relatively interested in the current price ranges. Despite a strong restocking in late May, Turkish mills continued inquiring. This demand is attributed to an upcoming holiday in mid-June, which may limit market activity. Market participants expect prices to remain range-bound as there is equilibrium in the short-sea space. Mills cannot raise prices, and suppliers cannot lower either. This translates into a stalemate with minor fluctuations. BigMint's assessment for US-origin HMS (80:20) bulk scrap stood at $380/tonne (t) CFR and remained largely stable with a mere $1/t uptick w-o-w.

Market highlights:

• SE Asia billet import offers stable w-o-w: SE Asia's imported billets market sentiments continued to remain sluggish this week. Meanwhile, market participants have adopted a wait-and-watch strategy with price cut expectations, BigMint observed. BigMint's bi-weekly assessment of billets (150x150mm, 3SP) imported by the Philippines currently stands at around $520/t CFR Manila, a fall of around $5/t, w-o-w.
  
  
• Vietnam's billet export offers unchanged w-o-w: Vietnam's BF-grade billet export offers stood unchanged w-o-w at around $500-505/t FOB with no active trades. Weak steel demand persists in Vietnam, exacerbated by the imminent monsoon season. Meanwhile, the country's imported bulk ferrous scrap offers remained range-bound amid uncertainty in market trends. Buying interest is muted amid the prevailing uncertainty, particularly in the downstream steel sectors.
  
  
• Thailand's imported billet prices stable w-o-w: Thailand's imported billet offers remained stable w-o-w at $520-525/t CFR. Meanwhile, the country's billet imports dropped by 32% y-o-y to 580,589 t in January-April, 2024 as against 848,031 t in the same period last year, according to the Customs data maintained by BigMint.
  
  
• Indian billet export market awaits tender results: State-owned Vizag Steel (RINL) has floated an ocean sale export tender for 30,000 t of steel blooms (150x150 mm, 3SP/4SP) on FOB ST delivery basis against 100% advance payment terms. The last date for bid submission is 10 June, 2024 and delivery is scheduled for 15 July, 2024.
  
  
• Iranian steel billet export market sees limited trading: Iran's billet export market continued to remain silent this week with prices stable on a weekly basis. No major billet export tenders have been heard in recent times. In the meantime, sources said that the Iranian government has imposed electricity restrictions due to high temperatures in the scorching summer to prioritise household consumption.
  
  
• China's steel billet prices inch down w-o-w: Billet prices in Tangshan dropped significantly by RMB 80/t ($11/t) w-o-w to RMB 3,430/t ($473/t) on 7 June, 2024. Volatility in raw materials, finished steel prices, rebar futures throughout the week along with lower trades weighed on billet prices. Prices include 13% VAT. SHFE rebar futures (October, 2024 delivery) decreased by RMB 51/t ($/t) w-o-w to RMB 3655/t ($504/t) on 7 June, 2024.