Fastmarkets asked market participants if specifications of the MB-STE-0141-steel billet import, cfr Southeast Asia, $/tonne price assessment should be changed in its grade or location to better capture trade in the market.
Feedback from a range of market participants reflected a clear desire for Fastmarkets to give greater focus to the Philippine import steel billet market over other key Southeast Asian import markets for 5sp-grade billet.
As of Monday April 12, Fastmarkets’ price for steel billet, import, cfr Southeast Asia, $/tonne will therefore be renamed to steel billet import, cfr Manila, $/tonne.
New blast furnace (BF) capacity in Indonesia has made that country a net exporter for billet, while both Indonesia and Thailand are relying increasingly on cheaper Iran-origin billet, which is not included in Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel billet, cfr Southeast Asia.
On the other hand, most deals for standard non-Iran 5sp billet closed to Southeast Asia over the last year have been sold to the Philippines – mostly into the port of Manila – while modified 5sp billet has also been sold in large volumes to some large buyers in the Philippines. The Philippines imported 2.50 million tonnes of steel billet in 2020.
Following the change on April 12, Fastmarkets will continue to track and report on sales of steel billet into other Southeast Asian import markets other than the Philippines but these prices will not form data points for Fastmarkets’ daily steel billet, cfr Manila price assessment.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel billet import, cfr Manila, $/tonne will continue to exclude prices for Iranian billet, induction furnace (IF) billet and material of other grades, such as 1sp, 3sp, 4sp and modified 5sp billet. In all cases where data submitters provide price information on any of these grades, Fastmarkets will ask data submitters to ask what this price would be on a 5sp cfr Manila basis for non-Iran BF material.
Fastmarkets also asked market participants about changing the price assessment to a modified, high-manganese 5sp billet price with manganese content of 0.8-1%.
Some market participants expressed an interest in Fastmarkets publishing a modified 5sp billet price on a cfr Manila basis because this is the grade of choice from some major importers in the market. Others said that the current, standard 5sp specifications for the price makes it a clearer benchmark price which is less dependent on swings in the manganese price and makes it easier to normalize to prices in other markets.
As a result, Fastmarkets will maintain its current specification of billet size 120x120mm to 150x150mm, length 12m and grade standard 5sp.
The proposed new specifications are as follows:
Name: MB-STE-0141 Steel billet import, cfr Manila, $/tonne
Quality: 120x120mm to 150x150mm, length 12m, standard 5sp
Quantity: 5,000-50,000 tonnes
Location: cfr Manila (other Southeast Asian ports to be normalized)
Timing: 6-10 weeks
Unit: US dollar/tonne
Payment terms: Letter of credit
Publication: Daily, 5-6pm Singapore time
The original consultation on the amendments started on December 30, 2020, and was originally scheduled to end on February 1.
The consultation was then extended and was scheduled to end on March 1. It was then extended once more until April 2.
To provide feedback on the amendments to the specifications, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to Fastmarkets’ steel billet pricing, please contact Lee Allen by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Lee Allen, re: Southeast Asia steel billet price.”
To see all of Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology
