The upward movement of ex-
CIS billet prices has received support both from the rises seen in global scrap quotations since the beginning of October and from the uptrend recorded in Chinese
billet export prices as of the beginning of the current week. Ex-
CIS billet offers to the export markets are currently at $320-330/mt FOB, increasing by $12.5/mt since the beginning of October and rising by $4/mt week on week.
Import scrap prices in Turkey have moved up since the start of October, while import and domestic
billet quotations in the country have increased in the same period, in line with the rises recorded in finished steel quotations. Although both import scrap and import
billet prices in Turkey have moved up, Turkish mills consider that steel production using import scrap is still more attractive than
billet-based production and so they prefer to purchase scrap instead of
billet. Accordingly, demand for ex-
CIS billet in Turkey is still at low levels, while
billet offers from the
CIS region to Turkey have been in the range of $330-340/mt CFR this week.
Meanwhile,
CIS-based suppliers'
billet offers to Egypt have increased by $7.5/mt week on week to $350/mt CFR, as demand for ex-
CIS billet is still at medium levels in Egypt.
Market sources believe that
CIS-based suppliers may raise their
billet offers slightly due to expectations of further increases in raw material prices and Chinese
billet export quotations.