Southeast Asian billet import prices surge amid more Chinese imports, scrap upswing

摘要

Prices in Southeast Asia’s steel billet market jumped on Friday December 13 amid the continued presence of Chinese importers in the spot market and an upswing in scrap prices in the bellwether Turkish market. At least 35,000 tonnes of Malaysian and Vietnamese billet have been sold to China at $433-435 per tonne cfr since last week. Billet from Southeast Asia is preferred among Chinese importers due to the shorter shipping period and because it is not subject to a 2% import tax that would be imposed on materials originating from other regions, sources said. These cargoes are likely to be heading for southern China, where prices remain above levels seen in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, which was previously the major entry point for imported billet, Chinese sources told Fastmarkets.