China’s strong appetite for billet continues to drive up regional prices, Kallanish notes. Billet import prices have risen by $5-10/tonne from last week.

Several cargoes of Indian commercial grade billet have been booked in recent days at $386-390/tonne cfr China, Indian trading sources say. A cargo is typically 30,000 tonnes. Previous bookings for Indian billet last week concluded at around $380/t cfr China.

Vietnamese blast furnace billet was booked at $385/t fob last week to China. A regional trader heard that the order was for 30,000t at $400/t cfr China. He notes that the import duty for ASEAN-origin billet is 0% whereas for Indian billet, 2%. “China is always interested to buy imported billet, but this interest depends on the price,” he notes. As freight from Vietnam to China costs $10/t, the additional $5/t margin could indicate that it is possibly a prompt shipment, a Vietnamese trader says.

This week, the same Vietnamese mill has raised its offer, also for June shipment, to $390/t fob but Vietnamese sources say that the offer has not been taken up yet. A new Indonesian blast furnace producer has sold billet at $400/t cfr China, Chinese trading sources say. This mill has, however, delayed its first shipment, a trader says. Its billet offer is now $405/t cfr China, he adds.

China has been actively importing billet, slab, hot rolled coil and pig iron in recent weeks in anticipation of that a fiscal stimulus package will be announced during the upcoming China Party Congress.

Domestic billet prices have firmed over the past seven consecutive days in Tangshan. Over the past week, Chinese domestic prices are up by CNY 120/t ($17/t) or 3.8% to CNY 3,260/t on Tuesday.