It is observed that demand in the local Turkish
billet market has remained at low levels over the past week.
In the current week, Turkish steel producer Kardemir opened its domestic
billet sales for S235JR grade billets at the level of TRY 1,445/mt ($411/mt) ex-works, excluding VAT, TRY 55/mt lower than its domestic
billet prices announced on May 12. In addition to the reduction Kardemir announced, the downward trend of the Turkish rebar market has also influenced domestic
billet prices in
Turkey, causing them to fall by $20/mt on the lower end and $5/mt on the upper end to $410-435/mt ex-works.
Meanwhile, Turkish buyers' demand for import
billet is also weak. Ex-CIS
billet offers to
Turkey have remained stable for the third consecutive week at $410-430/mt CFR. While buyers are concluding ex-CIS
billet deals only in line with their needs, the deals in question are seen to be concluded at $405-410/mt CFR.
Although Chinese
billet export offers have indicated a fluctuating trend over the past week, the current price levels ranging at $420-425/mt FOB are $5/mt higher compared to the previous week. Having declined at the beginning of last week, Chinese
billet export offers have fluctuated in the past week amid the volatility of the Chinese steel futures markets and iron ore prices. Turkish buyers are showing no interest in Chinese
billet offers.