Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia climbed further on Thursday February 14, supported by higher offers and an uptick in spot trading after the Lunar New Year lull.
Fastmarkets MB's daily import price assessment for billet in Southeast Asia was $475-485 per tonne cfr Manila on Thursday, narrowing upward by $5 per tonne from the previous day.On a week-on-week basis, the assessment range increased $25 per tonne from $450-460 per tonne cfr on February 7 after Southeast Asian participants had been largely inactive last week while waiting for China to return after the Lunar New Year break. Buyers in the Philippines were looking to procure replacement cargoes this week, after suppliers cancelled or renegotiated several deals last week, which had been concluded previously at lower prices of $435-450 per tonne cfr. Some of those bookings had been for Russian billet, traders said.Filipino re-rollers procured small shipments from the Russian Far East...