Billet suppliers are lowering export offers to Southeast Asia while the region continues to grapple with strict curbs imposed to rein in rising Covid-19 cases. Importers are not in a hurry to book and generally not prepared to accept offer prices, Kallanish notes.

Offers for blast and electric arc furnace 5sp billet are prevailing at $705-710/tonne cfr Manila. An importer says that this is for Vietnamese, Russian and Indian material. Last week, Vietnamese origin blast and EAF billet was offered at $5/t higher during the 6 August week.

A trader heard that Russian 125mm billet is offered at $710/t cfr Manila. A supplier is inviting bids for Russian billet at $700/t cfr, another importer says. “Prices are soft. Demand is moving but slow,” he says. "I can't see anyone paying this price in Philippines today," a regional trader in Singapore says. The markets for commercial rebar and even angles are struggling, another Manila trader says. Induction furnace billet from India is heard at $670-680/t cfr Manila in the week of 13 August. Vietnamese induction furnace billet is offered at $695-700/t cfr Manila

Blast furnace billet from Vietnam is offered at $680/t fob, down $10/t from the week before, Vietnamese trading sources say. Prices for Vietnamese billet could fall further, a Vietnamese trader warns. "Mills are eager to export because they cannot sell in the local market for two months," he says. The Covid-19 lockdown, which began on 9 July in Ho Chi Minh City, has just been extended to 15 September.

Kallanish assessed 5sp/ps or Q275 120/125/130mm square billet on Friday at $700-705/t cfr Manila, $10 lower on-week.

A blast furnace mill in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is offering 150mm 5sp billet at $710/t cfr Jakarta and for CIS-origin billet is the lowest-priced at around $705/t cfr. “I doubt there are deals because most buyers are aiming at below $700/t cfr,” a Jakarta-based mill manager says. In Thailand, Iranian billet is offered on 13 August at $680/t cif. “I don’t think there is buying interest,” a Thai trader says.