During the past week, demand for ex-CIS billet in the export markets has failed to improve and is still at low levels.
This week, Chinese billet quotations have increased on the back of the rises recorded in the Chinese futures market. However, CIS-based suppliers have failed to reflect this rise in their billet prices. Instead, ex-CIS billet prices have declined by $15/mt on the lower end to $300-325/mt FOB.
Meanwhile, no new ex-CIS billet deal has been heard in Egypt as the problem of tightness of foreign exchange availability in the country still exists. With Turkish buyers preferring scrap instead of import billet due to cost advantage, demand for ex-CIS billet in Turkey has been at low levels.