Billet offers from the CIS region to international markets have increased further in the current week, rising by $5/mt on the lower end and by $10/mt on the upper end week on week to $525-540/mt FOB. Meanwhile, SteelOrbis has been informed that the most recent billet export sales in the CIS region have been concluded in the range of $515-520/mt FOB.
In Egypt – one of the most important export markets of CIS-based suppliers – demand for billet has started to improve slowly after the Feast of Sacrifice holiday with price inquiries for ex-CIS billet accelerating. Currently, ex-CIS billet offers to Egypt are at $540-550/mt CFR. According to market sources, Egyptian buyers have restarted their billet purchases this week and are accepting ex-CIS billet offers at $535-540/mt CFR.
In Turkey, another target market of CIS-based billet exporters, stagnation seen in Turkish long steel market has caused demand for both domestically produced and import billet to be on the low side. It is observed that ex-CIS billet offers to Turkey at $540-555/mt CFR are currently higher than domestic billet quotations. As a result, Turkish buyers are not willing to conclude ex-CIS billet purchases for now.