Sustained Chinese demand for steel billet spurs Southeast Asian uptrend

Steady demand from China continued to prop up prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market over the past week, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.

Market participants said China remained the preferred destination for suppliers due to their ability to pay higher prices and book larger cargoes than Southeast Asian re-rollers.
Demand in Southeast Asia remained sluggish due to restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus and because of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, sources said.
Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast Asia, which mainly looks at 120-150mm 5sp-grade billet sold into the Philippines, was $375-380 per tonne on May 15, unchanged from the previous day.

It started the week at $370-375 per tonne cfr Southeast Asia on Monday before rising on Tuesday-Thursday.
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