Weekly: Global billet market overview

For the second consecutive week, the Chinese buyers kept the global billet market active. Sizeable billet cargoes reported having been bought by China from all across the globe. The high Chinese demand pulled the global billet prices. The new highs of Chinese domestic billet prices are driving the billet imports in China.

CIS: After a Russian mill sold around 22,000 t billets to China at $640/t, CFR, the offers from the far Eastern port of Russia rose to $660-670/t, CFR for China and the Philippines. However, we witnessed no deals at the increased offers. On the other hand, Black Sea offers are hovering at $570-580/t, FoB amid sluggish Turkish demand.

India: SteelMint's bi-weekly assessment for Indian billets (150*150mm, BF route, FoB East coast) is currently at $590-595/t, up by $30-35 w-o-w.

• Indian billet export prices surged to an eight-year high level in a recently concluded billet export tender. The mill achieved a price level of $591-595/t, FoB India. The tenders floated were for 60,000 t blooms (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP grade) and 10,000 t billets (65*65mm, IS2830 Gr. A), May '21 shipments.
  
  
• Vizag Steel has floated an export tender for 240,000 t blooms (150*150mm, 3SP/4SP). The payment terms are- 90% advance of the tendered quantity. The delivery schedule is within four months, from the date of receipt of advance. The due date of the tender is 26 Apr '21. The company has also scheduled a pre-bid virtual meeting on 15 Apr '21. Meanwhile, the company has recorded a remarkable 261% y-o-y growth in the steel export sales of 1.3 mn t in FY '21.
  
  
• On the other hand, amid improving export realizations, a few private primary mills were also offering billets for China at $650/t, CFR. Few market participants indicated that workable levels were around $640-645/t CFR.
  
  

Iran: SteelMint's bi-weekly assessment for Iranian billets is currently at $570/t, up by $5-10/t w-o-w.

• Iranian billet export prices hit an all-time high level to reach $570-571/t, FoB, in a recently concluded deal for China. According to SteelMint sources, the mill sold 30,000 t billets at $570/t, FoB for May '21 shipments.
  
  
• Domestic demand remained strong post-Iranian New Year (Nowruz): The domestic billet prices in Iran remained supported after Nowruz. In a recent trade event hosted at the Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME), approximately 98,000 t billets were traded at an average price of IRR 107,876/kg ($432/t). The total offered quantity for this week was around 135,000 t.
  
  

SE Asia: SteelMint's assessment for billet imports in SE Asia is $635-640/t CFR, up by $10-15 w-o-w.

• SE Asian imported billet market broadly remained silent on sluggish demand triggered by the second COVID wave. Owing to this the Philippines has imposed a lockdown till 16 Apr '21. However, an Indian cargo (65*65mm) was heard having been sold in the region recently. On the other hand, sizeable billet cargoes were reported having sold to China from Indonesia and Malaysia early this week.
  
  
• Vietnam: The BF route billet export offers from Vietnam surged by $20 w-o-w to reach $635/t, FoB levels.
  
  
• Thailand: Imported billet prices in Thailand are in the range of $640-645/t, CFR, up by $20-25 w-o-w.
  
  

Chinese domestic billet prices hit new-high: This week, the Chinese domestic billet prices rose to a new high. The ongoing production cuts are continuously pulling up the prices. Yesterday, the domestic billet prices settled at RMB 5,040/t ($769/t), ex Tangshan, including 13% VAT, up by RMB 80 ($12) w-o-w.

Global billet market snapshot: