With the upward movement of import scrap prices in
Turkey coming to a halt, Turkish steel producers have kept their domestic
billet prices unchanged during the past week at $425-430/mt ex-works. However, demand in the local Turkish
billet market has softened slightly in the same period and buyers are still making purchases only in line with their needs.
CIS-based suppliers'
billet offers to Turkish buyers increased by $5/mt towards the end of last week to $425-435/mt CFR, while they have remained unchanged in the current week. Meanwhile, Turkish buyers still consider ex-CIS
billet offers to be unattractive and so demand for ex-CIS
billet in
Turkey has remained at low levels.
Chinese
billet export quotations have increased by $27.5/mt week on week to $455-465/mt FOB. After moving down last week, Chinese
billet export prices have started to increase at the beginning of the current week against the backdrop of the rises seen in the Chinese steel futures market. Meanwhile, the current price levels of Chinese
billet are considered to be on the high side by international buyers and so demand for Chinese
billet in the global market is weak.