Markets sources confirm that CIS billet export offers have trended down since last week, declining by $10/mt to $490-510/mt FOB. Meanwhile, strong domestic billet demand in the local Russian market and competitive Chinese billet export offers have caused Russian mills to reduce their billet volumes for the export markets. Accordingly, supply shortages for CIS billet continue to be seen in Turkey and in the Middle East. At the same time, CIS billet export offers have continued to decline despite the tight supply situation.
This week's CIS billet export offers for Turkey are ranging at $505-515/mt CFR, softening by $5/mt over the past week. Meanwhile, Chinese billet offers for the same destination are now at $485-495/mt CFR, indicating an increase of $5/mt since last week.