According to market sources, Turkish producers' domestic
billet prices have remained unchanged week on week at $360-370/mt ex-works, excluding 18 percent VAT and for July shipment. Turkish buyers are postponing their purchases of domestic production billets due to the low-priced Chinese
billet offers for
Turkey, and they expect Turkish
billet prices to decline further. Moreover, with import scrap purchases accelerating ahead of Ramadan, buyers are now showing little interest in Chinese
billet offers. Under these circumstances demand is still weak in Turkish
billet market, while no new ex-China
billet deal has been heard during the past week.
Meanwhile, Chinese
billet offers to
Turkey have increased by an average of $5/mt over the past week to the range of $315-325/mt CFR, for September shipment. Market sources state that Chinese producers are trying to stimulate their sales in
Turkey by increasing their prices. However, it is the key concern that whether this increased price will gain acceptance or not by Turkish buyers.