Following the recent sharp rises seen in the local Turkish
billet market, demand has slackened this week, and so the upward trend of
billet prices has slowed down. Although inquiries are still lively, Turkish buyers are unwilling to conclude
billet deals, resulting in sluggish transaction activity. Domestic
billet prices in
Turkey declined by $5/mt on the lower end after Turkish steel producer Kardemir announced its prices for domestic
billet sales at $425/mt ex-works on April 21. However, domestic
billet prices have continued their upward movement in
Turkey's southern regions during the past week, with
billet quotations increasing by $10/mt on the upper end. Accordingly, domestic
billet prices in
Turkey have settled in the range of $425-460/mt ex-works.
Over the past week, ex-CIS
billet offers to
Turkey have increased by $25/mt on the lower end and by $35/mt on the upper end to $435-460/mt CFR. Also, it has been heard that a Turkish steel mill concluded an ex-CIS deal for 30,000-35,000 mt of
billet at $442/mt CFR on April 22.
In the same period, Chinese
billet offers to
Turkey have remained unchanged at $400-410/mt CFR. With Chinese suppliers keeping their prices stable, Chinese
billet prices have become attractive for Turkish buyers for the first time since the beginning of 2016. Although Chinese
billet prices to
Turkey were lower than other import
billet quotations by $10-15/mt in previous months, the longer delivery times in question deterred Turkish buyers.