Supply in the local Turkish
billet market has continued to remain tight this week, while demand has slowed down slightly due to Ramadan and also due to the impact of the announcement of a possible reduction in customs duty on rebar imports. Meanwhile, domestic
billet prices in
Turkey have remained unchanged over the past week at $430-440/mt ex-works.
Chinese
billet suppliers stayed away from the export markets during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on May 29-30 and their
billet export prices are still at $420-425/mt FOB, following the $5/mt increase recorded towards the end of last week. Chinese
billet prices have been moving up and down for a while now in line with the fluctuations seen in the Chinese steel futures markets and in iron ore quotations, though Chinese
billet prices have not indicated any sharp decline because domestic demand for
billet in
China has improved slightly. However, current Chinese
billet export prices are not attractive for Turkish buyers and so no new deal for Chinese
billet is expected to be heard in
Turkey in the short term.
Meanwhile, ex-CIS
billet offers to
Turkey have remained stable during the past week at $410-430/mt CFR.
Due to difficulties in procuring domestic
billet, Turkish buyers have recently increased their price inquiries for Iranian
billet and there are rumors of Iranian
billet transactions being concluded by Turkish steel producers at $410/mt CFR.
Liquid steel producers in
Turkey prefer to continue their production with scrap, while Turkish rolling mills are still cautious about concluding new deals for import
billet within the scope of
Turkey's inward processing regime (under this scheme mills have to give a commitment to export the finished products they produce from imported
billet) and so they are purchasing import
billet only in line with their needs.