Ex-India billet prices have remained relatively stable with local mills halting submission of offers after buyers started showing hesitancy in completing deals, following a fresh wave of weakness in Asia led by China, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, July 10.
Ex-India billet offer prices are stable at $485-490/mt FOB with the only “live” offer currently being an export tender for 30,000 mt by a government-run mill scheduled to close today (July 10), while private mills are largely quiet on the export front. The buyers’ trade ideas are not above $470/mt FOB. So, the reference price of SteelOrbis has settled at $470-490/mt FOB, down by $5/mt on the lower end over the past week.
“The slight improvement in trade activity seen earlier was not sustained. Buyers in Asia are deferring deals, expecting further declines, following the softening of prices in China. It is a challenge to take a call on prices, with futures showing signs of gains, but with spot prices weakening. Hence, local private mills and buyers are taking a pause to await a new direction,” an Indian source said.
“Buyers and sellers both feel $470/mt FOB to be ‘reasonable’. But in bearish conditions, expectations of further declines are keeping buyers on the sidelines,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the downtrend in local merchant billet trade has gained momentum in tandem with fall in the rebar market. Billet trade prices are down INR 1,200/mt ($14/mt) to INR 41,500/mt ($497/mt) ex-Mumbai and are down INR 1,450/mt ($17/mt) to INR 39,300/mt ($471/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 83.50