After a long pause, one of the major Algerian mills has come back to the international market with billet offers. Since the availability of material with short lead times has been limited recently, this has attracted the attention of traders, who are willing to take positions mainly for further sales to the MENA region.
At least one cargo for 20,000-25,000 mt of ex-Algeria billet has been sold at $505/mt FOB for June shipment. Moreover, some market sources have said that there have been three lots on offer and the total tonnage available may be up to 80,000 mt. Offers for ex-Algeria billet started at $510/mt FOB in the middle of this week. Since the material has very short lead times to Turkey, there has been interest for the abovementioned cargoes in Turkey.
In particular, market sources have reported the offer price to Turkey at $535/mt CFR or just slightly below this, and there have been rumors that a deal to one major importer has already been done at the estimated level of $530/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication.
Non-sanctioned billet availability has been limited in the region lately, with only some offers for Ukrainian material and Asian billet, which have been at $540/mt CFR and for arrival in Turkey only in August, being unacceptable for buyers.