Daily Steel News - 1 Apr 09

Asian H-beam import prices slip on lower demand
The regional mills are exporting their imperial sized H-beams at $570-580/tonne cfr to Singapore and Malaysia, according to regional market sources. This compares with offer prices from these mills of $610-630/t cfr in the middle of March. Chinese metric-sized H-beams were last booked at $520/t cfr Singapore. The deal involved a few thousand tonnes and was concluded around two weeks ago, a trader reports. He is bullish that prices will soon rise because of the recent improvement in sentiment for scrap and billet.

62% Fe iron ore price at new low, says The Steel Index
The reference price for 62% Fe content iron ore fines dropped by 3% to $59.10/dry metric tonne CFR Tianjin port, China, which is a new low since these reference prices were first published in November 2008. The reference price for 58% Fe content fines also fell, by a smaller 0.8%, to $51.60/dry metric tonne CFR Tianjin port. Within these delivered prices, the freight cost for two of the three key iron ore routes are reported to have fallen, though there was a slight increase of 3% on the West Australia-China route.

Billet import prices could be stabilising in Asia
Southeast Asian traders believe that billet import prices are likely to stay at current levels, because demand for long products is still weak in the region. Transactions in the Philippines last week reached $380/tonne cfr for a Russian-origin cargo for April shipment and a Taiwanese-origin cargo at $390/t cfr. These involved 5,000t each. Taiwanese 3sp/ps billet was booked at $380/t cfr Vietnam a week ago. "Prices will be sustained and cannot move beyond $400/t cfr," a trader in the Philippines says. Offer prices were last at around $375-380/t cfr for Russian billet late last week but these offers are drying up. "Inventory levels are low among the rerollers, but where is the demand for bars?" a trader in Singapore asks Steel Business Briefing.