SteelOrbis has been informed that billet offers from the CIS region to the export markets have declined by $5/mt on the upper end over the past week to the range of $390-395/mt CFR. Russian and Ukrainian suppliers have taken an extended vacation starting from the Labor Day holiday (May 1-4) and continuing to the Victory Day holiday (May 9-11). Due to the holiday in the CIS market, transaction activity is expected to be quiet in the current week.
Additionally, on May 4, Turkish steel producer Kardemir opened its billet sales at $400-405/mt ex-works. The producer closed its billet sales after a couple of hours after receiving orders for a total of around 142,500 mt of billets. Turkish steel producers considered the price levels in question to be attractive. Market sources state that activity on construction projects in Turkey has increased amid warmer weather conditions and that demand for rebar in the local market has risen accordingly. Most domestic steel producers have completed their restocking for billets owing to Kardemir's latest sale, and this has negatively impacted CIS billet exports to Turkey.
On the other hand, ex-China billet deals concluded in Turkey over the past two weeks at $360/mt CFR and $365/mt CFR were considered to be more attractive than ex-CIS billet offers. As a result, Turkish buyers prefer Chinese offers over CIS-based billet offers.