Daily Steel News - 26 Apr 10

Billet import offer prices weaken by around $10/t in SE Asia
Offer prices for billet have slipped by around $10/tonne to around $650-665/t cfr Southeast Asia but regional importers are generally staying away, trading sources tell Steel Business Briefing. “The region is quiet this past week,” a regional trader tells SBB. Traders say that the market is taking a wait-and-see stance because rebar demand in regional markets is not strong. Taiwanese-origin billet has been offered at $650-660/t cfr SE Asia and Malaysian billet at $660-665/t cfr. One lot of Russian billet was recently offered at $660/t cfr Indonesia and Japanese billet at $660/t cfr Indonesia, down from $670/t cfr previously. Trading sources report billet from the CIS is still offered at $660-665/t cfr Vietnam but there are also higher offer prices for Russian and Turkish billet at $670-680/t cfr. “The future is not bright for the Taiwanese longs market for the short term,” a Taiwanese trader says. Domestic scrap and rebar prices have been dropping and no rebound is expected yet. He last heard an import booking of containerised US-origin vanadium-added billet some two weeks ago at $657/t cfr. A buyer in Indonesia says that there has not been any concluded deal recently although he has heard of bidding at $650/t cfr for 20MnSi grade material. A small-volume lot of Japanese origin billet was booked early last week at $653/t cfr Vietnam. Japanese billet enjoys a preferential import duty of around 4.5% compared to normal duty of 7%for imports.

Indian longs prices falter on weak demand
Indian domestic prices of thermo mechanically treated (TMT) rebars and mild steel billets produced by mid-tier steelmakers have declined by Rs 1,500-2,000/tonne ($34-45/t) from early April levels on slackened demand. Fe 500 TMT rebars (12mm) are priced at Rs 34,000-35,500/t ($765-788/t) including taxes and freight, down from Rs 36,000-37,500/t in early April. Average country-wide prices of Fe 415 TMT rebars (12mm) are Rs 33,500-35,000/t all inclusive. At the same time, 8mm Fe500 TMT rebars in north India are priced at Rs 36,600/t, while 10mm rebars cost
Rs 36,000/t all inclusive. Prices of 16mm, 20mm and 25mm TMT rebars are Rs 35,200-36,000/t all inclusive. EAF-manufactured mild steel billets (100mm) in west India are priced at Rs 27,000/t ex-works without taxes, and Rs 30,900/t including of taxes and local freight. North Indian billet prices hover at Rs 30,000- 40,000/t all inclusive. Billet prices are Rs 1,500/t lower than early April levels of Rs 31,500-41,500/t. Meanwhile, induction furnace-manufactured pencil ingots at Mandi Gobindgarh in the northern state of Punjab have been hovering at Rs 29,000-30,300/t including taxes and freight, and Rs 28,000-28,500/t in Raipur in the central state of Chhattisgarh. “Domestic demand is weak, not only because of financial market constraints, but also through the low availability of other construction-related raw materials such as sand,” a rebar manufacturer tells Steel Business Briefing. However, with the monsoons approaching in mid-June, the industry expects a pick-up in domestic demand soon, as buyers can stock up on their inventories before the seasonal rains begin.

Hyundai raises longs prices for May
Korean integrated mill Hyundai Steel has decided to lift domestic long product prices by KRW 40,000/tone ($35/t) for May, blaming consistently rising scrap prices. From 1 May, Hyundai’s price for rebars will be KRW 831,000/t ($745/t) for 10mm diameter bars directly supplied to building contractors while its 300x300mm H-beams will be priced at KRW 950,000/t ($852/t). The company will also raise prices of sections such as angles and channels to KRW 940,000/t for base sizes from next month, Steel Business Briefing learns from the company. “The price hike for long products this time is inevitable because scrap prices have kept surging,” Hyundai says. In April, it added KRW 50,000/t to the prices of all its long products for the same reason. Market watchers had long expected that Hyundai would hike prices but the increase margin this time is slightly smaller than many had been forecasting. “This is because of Hyundai’s concern about resistance from contractors given that the recovery in construction activity is still very weak,” a source says. Meanwhile, Hyundai will also increase its domestic prices for hot rolled coil and heavy plate from 1 May [see other article]. As a result, the new price for Hyundai HRC will be KRW 850,000/t ($762/t) and that for plate will be KRW 900,000/t ($807/t). Hyundai commissioned its first blast furnace in January to boost flats production but it still operates EAFbased works at Incheon and Pohang producing longs, SBB notes.

62% iron ore price eases back from peak: The Steel Index
The latest daily iron ore reference prices released by The Steel Index last Friday show that the prices increased strongly from a week earlier, though the 62% price eased back from its midweek peak. Average weekly freight rates from Australia and Brazil firmed during the week, but weekly freights from India moved slightly lower. The reference price for 62% Fe content iron ore fines finished the week at $184.80/dry metric tonne CFR Tianjin port, China. This is a $6.70/dmt, or 3.8%, increase on the previous week’s price, but is slightly below the highest level of $186.50/dmt which was recorded on Wednesday. The reference price for 58% Fe fines finished the week $7.70/dmt, or 5.4%, above the level of a week earlier. Daily freight rates from Australia and Brazil to China rose slowly since the start of the week. Daily freight rates for shipments from both west and east coasts of India continued to slip downwards during the week. The Steel Index is majority-owned by Steel Business Briefing and specialises in compiling steel and iron ore reference prices based on actual transaction data. Further details of the methodology and specifications for the two grades of iron ore can be found on the website www.thesteelindex.com . Companies wishing to subscribe to the full set of reference prices or apply to submit iron ore or steel price data can do so on the website .