Weekly round-up: Global billets prices head north on recovery in Chinese rebar futures

The global billets market sentiments remained supported this week on the back of renewed Chinese buying interest and following an uptick in rebar futures.

According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Chinese SHFE rebar futures contract for May'22 delivery closed at RMB 4,664/tonne ($734/t) on 14 Jan'22, a sharp rise of RMB 138/t ($22/t) on week and a rise of RMB 31/t ($5/t), d-o-d.

Market highlights

• Indian mills book around 150,000 t billets for exports: The Indian billets export market gained momentum following a recovery in bids, Chinese steel futures and the global price uptick. Around 120,000 t of steel billets were sold by an Indian mill to China this week via two spot billet tenders of 60,000 t each on 12 Jan and 13 Jan'22 at around $595/t and $596-598/t FOB, respectively. Another major steel mill from India concluded a special grade billets export deal for 20,000 t (165 mm and 150 mm, 5sp) to South-East Asia recently. However, the price could not be confirmed till the time of publishing the report. SteelMint's bi-weekly price assessment for Indian billets export (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP, BOF route) stood at around $600-605/t FOB on 14 Jan'22, up by $13/t w-o-w.
  
  
• Iranian billets export prices rebound to one-month high: Iranian billets export market picked up this week after the conclusion of a deal. One of the major billets exporters from Iran had opened an export tender for 30,000 t of billets last week, with the due date on 11 Jan'22. As per sources, the tender was concluded at $554-555/t FOB. SteelMint's latest assessment of Iranian billets exports (3 SP) increased by around $10/t w-o-w to $555/t FOB on 14 Jan'22, bouncing back to a one-month high level. The hike comes on the back of higher global billets export offers from other origins on improved bids and rise in Chinese rebar futures.
  
  
• SE Asia's imported billets market sluggish: The South East Asian imported billets market remained less active for yet another week despite a recovery in the Chinese rebar futures. SteelMint's bi-weekly assessment of imported billets (150*150mm, 3SP) into the Philippines currently stands at around $630/t, CFR Manila, up slightly w-o-w.
  
  
• Vietnam's billets export offers flat: Vietnam's BF-route billets export offers stood flat at $620/t, FOB with no deals concluded this week.
  
  
• Thailand's imported billets offers range-bound: Indicative imported billets offers into the country were hovering in the range of around $620-630/t, FOB, stable w-o-w.
  
  
• Indonesia exports billets to China: In a recent deal, Indonesia's Dexin Steel exported steel billets to China at around $630/t on CFR basis, sources informed SteelMint.
  
  
• China's billets prices rise towards the weekend: Steel billet prices in China's Tangshan witnessed a rise of RMB 80/t ($12/t) w-o-w. Domestic billets prices stood at RMB 4,430/t ($697/t), inclusive of 13% VAT, on 14 Jan'22.