Asian seaborne billet and rebar markets dropped April 25, as raw material prices edged lower with several mills planning to implement output cuts.

          After West China mills idled their blast furnaces in late-April, some mills with larger furnaces were planning to idle their furnaces in May. The margin for flats product based on spot raw material prices are better than that for longs.

          The October 2023 rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 3,685/mt ($533/mt), down Yuan 29/mt on the day.

          Chinese 3SP 150 mm billet was offered at $530/mt FOB China, down $10 from April 24.

          Short sellers were heard offering July shipment 5SP billets at $530/mt CFR Manila and 3SP 150 mm billets at $525/mt CFR Taiwan, with delivered cargo at sellers’ option. A trading company was heard facilitating the sale of July shipment of Russian cargo.

          Taiwanese buyers expect the price to be at $520/mt CFR Taiwan for 3SP 150 mm billets and no deal was concluded, while Philippines buyers were bidding at $510-$520/mt CFR Manila for 5SP 130 mm billets.

          The mills, however, were offering about $30/mt above short sellers' offers. Indonesian 5SP billets were offered at $540/mt FOB Indonesia, and Chinese 3SP billets were offered at $530/mt FOB China.

          Platts assessed the price of 5SP 130 mm billet on a CFR Southeast Asia basis down $3/mt at $535/mt April 24, considering Russian cargo is currently not tradable to the Philippines market.

          Chinese domestic billet was down Yuan 20/mt at Yuan 3,590/mt on a Tangshan ex-stock basis for Q235 billet material. Platts assessed China import 3SP 150 mm spot billet down $3/mt at $460/mt CFR China.

          “The offers just reflected that traders are not really considering support from mills cost of production, since traders are offering at whatever level they think can sell,” said a Singapore-based trader, adding that “maybe people are just waiting until the iron ore and coal falling to desired level.”

          Chinese Tier 1 mill rebar was offered at $625/mt CFR Hong Kong in actual weight. Chinese first tier mill May/June shipment rebar was heard offered at $615/mt CFR Singapore. Middle Eastern rebars were also offered at the level.

          Platts assessed 16-32 mm BS4449 Grade 500 rebar at $600/mt CFR Southeast Asia, down $3/mt on the day. Chinese export 16-20 mm diameter BS500B grade rebar was down $3/mt on the day at $595/mt FOB China.

          The domestic Beijing HRB400 18-25 mm rebar spot price is unchanged at Yuan 3,835/mt ex-stock actual weight, including 13% value added tax.

--- S&P Global Commodity Insights.