Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia were flat amid sparse trading activity over the past week, while those for slab in the wider region encompassing East Asia edged up on impending drop in consumers' inventories.
Metal Bulletin's assessment of import prices for billet in Southeast Asia was $535-550 per tonne cfr for the week ended Monday February 12, unchanged from a week earlier.Deals involving billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States were concluded around $550 per tonne cfr to the Philippines, sources said.Indonesian buyers were heard to have bought more than 30,000 tonnes of cargoes from Oman and Bahrain, but market sources could not confirm the transaction prices.Few transactions took place due to the bid-offer spread being too wide, with offers remaining high due to tight supply. Firm offers backed by mills were scarce partly because of the upcoming Lunar New Year, market participants said.Offers from Taiwan were heard at $545-550 per tonne cfr, up $5 per tonne from a week earlier, but buyers in Indonesia and...