Market sources indicate that domestic producers' billet prices in the local Turkish market have trended sideways since last week at $520-535/mt ex-works. Turkish steelmaker Kardemir opened its domestic billet sales on June 17, with the mill closing its sales as of today, June 18 after receiving demand for about 68,000 mt of billet in total.
Meanwhile, ex-CIS billet offers to Turkey still stand in the range of $510-520/mt CFR, stable since last week, though buyers' asking prices are at $500-505/mt CFR. In the meantime, it is heard that plenty of ex-China billet offers to Turkey are available in the market, while the low levels of Chinese offers, which have decreased to $500/mt CFR, have put CIS billet suppliers in a difficult position in their business with Turkish buyers, who are increasing their negotiations on CIS prices.