Posted on 25 Nov 2019
The Manila billet market spiralled upwards last week amid limited availability and higher offers from suppliers, Kallanish understands. Deals heard were for induction furnace billet, which is lower-priced compared to blast furnace and EAF billet.
Offers for blast furnace and EAF billet for January shipments mostly dried up in Manila during the past week. A Russian mill which exports regularly to the region has said that it is sold out for January shipment.
A Japanese EAF mill opened an export tender for January-shipment billet. A trader was heard to have offered this billet on Thursday at $425/tonne cfr while the mill was aiming for at least $430/t cfr. "It's possible the trader just floated a price indication to fish for bids which the mill rejected,” a Manila market player says.
A small lot of around 5,000 tonnes of Vietnamese induction furnace billet was ordered for January shipment at $423/t cfr Manila on Thursday, market participants in Vietnam and the Philippines heard. The week before, several buyers collectively booked around 20,000t of Vietnamese induction furnace billet at $415-417/t cfr Manila, an importer reports.
Offers for Vietnamese induction furnace billet for February shipment are now prevailing at $428/t cfr Manila, Vietnamese trading sources say.
"Billet offers are almost nil," a Manila trader says. A trader is indicating $430/t cfr for Black Sea billet but there are no takers so far, he reports. Another says that there are hardly any offers heard now. "Traders want to increase prices by limiting offers," he adds.
On Friday, Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet at $423-425/t cfr Manila, $14 higher on-week.
