Malaysian mills raise billet export offer prices
Malaysian mills are aiming to export their billet at $400/t fob or $420-425/ cfr Southeast Asia, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Deals were concluded recently at $380-390/t fob. The destination markets include Vietnam . for deals concluded at $400-410/t cfr in the past 1-2 weeks . and to the Middle East at $390/t fob. A Ho Chi Minh-based trader tells SBB. He estimates more than 30,000 tonnes of Malaysian billet will arrive in the second half of this month and this will account for 70-80% of billet imports. Nobody knows whether the market is going up or down. There are few new billet bookings because prices are too high, trading sources say. "Buying of billet appears to have stopped again," a trader in Singapore notes. "The price increase for scrap and billet recently is artificial because the fundamentals cannot support these higher prices," he adds. "Billet (import) prices are around hot rolled coil (import) prices or higher," a trader in Taipei notes. He says that this situation cannot last.
Pig iron, HMS scrap prices relatively stable in east Asia
The east Asian import market for basic pig iron remains quiet and prices are prevailing at around $270/t cfr, unchanged from four weeks ago. Last week, a Taiwanese mill booked 40,000 tonnes of pig iron from Brazil and Russia at $268-269/t cfr. The bulk consignment is for May shipment. Offers to China for spot cargoes from Brazil and Russia are priced at approximately $270/t cfr, Chinese trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Korea's Dongkuk Steel late last week concluded another deep-sea cargo with Schnitzer Steel Industries at $250/t cif for No.1 heavy melting scrap (HMS) for June/July arrival.
Malaysian mills are aiming to export their billet at $400/t fob or $420-425/ cfr Southeast Asia, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Deals were concluded recently at $380-390/t fob. The destination markets include Vietnam . for deals concluded at $400-410/t cfr in the past 1-2 weeks . and to the Middle East at $390/t fob. A Ho Chi Minh-based trader tells SBB. He estimates more than 30,000 tonnes of Malaysian billet will arrive in the second half of this month and this will account for 70-80% of billet imports. Nobody knows whether the market is going up or down. There are few new billet bookings because prices are too high, trading sources say. "Buying of billet appears to have stopped again," a trader in Singapore notes. "The price increase for scrap and billet recently is artificial because the fundamentals cannot support these higher prices," he adds. "Billet (import) prices are around hot rolled coil (import) prices or higher," a trader in Taipei notes. He says that this situation cannot last.
Pig iron, HMS scrap prices relatively stable in east Asia
The east Asian import market for basic pig iron remains quiet and prices are prevailing at around $270/t cfr, unchanged from four weeks ago. Last week, a Taiwanese mill booked 40,000 tonnes of pig iron from Brazil and Russia at $268-269/t cfr. The bulk consignment is for May shipment. Offers to China for spot cargoes from Brazil and Russia are priced at approximately $270/t cfr, Chinese trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. Korea's Dongkuk Steel late last week concluded another deep-sea cargo with Schnitzer Steel Industries at $250/t cif for No.1 heavy melting scrap (HMS) for June/July arrival.
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