Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia were unchanged over the past week amid subdued demand, while those for slab in the wider region edged up ahead of an impending supply drop.
BilletMetal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $540-550 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday July 9, the same as a week earlier.Few bookings were reported over the past week amid soft demand in the region.A transaction involving 130mm billet from Japan was concluded at $550 per tonne cfr, while Vietnamese billet produced using induction furnaces was booked at $542 per tonne cfr. Both cargoes were sold to the Philippines.A 20,000-tonne cargo of Indian billet was sold through a tender at $512 per tonne fob, although sources in Asia could not confirm whether it was bound for Thailand or Sri Lanka.Offers from Taiwan stood at around $550-557 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia, while asking prices for materials from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were at $545-547 per tonne cfr.Several cargoes of induction-furnace billet from India...