Suppliers held offers for billet firm in Southeast Asia in the past week, Kallanish notes. Southeast Asian importers, however, are still unwilling to pay up for material.

In Manila, offers for billet are priced slightly lower than last week. Russian 125mm square billet for August shipment is offered at $400-403/tonne cfr, Indian induction furnace billet at $400/t cfr and Indian blast furnace billet at $415/t cfr.

Buying interest is thin and no deals were heard concluded during the week, market participants in Manila say. Buyers’ prices are lagging behind offers because they have concerns about the market recovery, a regional trader says. Rebar prices have been flat in the Philippines, a Manila trader says. This is why buyers are unwilling to pay more for billet.

During the week ending 5 June, Russian 100mm and 150mm square billet for September shipment had been booked at $400/t cfr. Indian blast furnace billet was meanwhile booked for end-July/early-August shipment at $406/t cfr Manila.

On Friday, Kallanish maintained its 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet assessment at $400-405/t cfr Manila.

Meanwhile, Iranian billet offers have gone up to $400/t cfr Thailand and Indonesia, up from $390-395/t cfr previously. A Thai trader says he heard of an order taking place at under $400/t cfr and thinks the booking price was $398/t cfr.

Elsewhere, an Indian mill's 16 June tender for 30,000 tonnes of 150mm sq 3sp/4sp billet for shipment by mid-July attracted the highest bid of $386/t fob India. Indian trading sources hear the cargo was taken directly by a re-roller in United Arab Emirates.

In China, Vietnamese blast furnace billet was booked earlier in the week at $408/t cfr China. As Vietnamese billet enjoys a 2% import duty advantage, this would be equivalent to $400/t cfr China for non-Asean billet including India billet. Vietnamese billet was heard ordered at $401-402/t fob at the end of the week, Chinese traders report. Since freight from Vietnam is $8/t, "…there is no big [price] change," a trader says.

Indian billet suppliers are currently targeting to export 3sp billet to China at $406/t cfr, Chinese trading sources say. Freight from India to China is around $15/t.