Demand in the local Turkish billet market is at low levels ahead of the local elections to be held on March 31, while it is observed that prices show variation depending on the region and the seller. The volume of billet supply in Turkey’s Iskenderun region is lower due to cuts in capacity utilization rates. Turkish mills’ domestic billet offers are now at $465-485/mt ex-works, while Turkish steel producer Kardemir sold 103,500 mt of billet on March 11 after opening its sales earlier that day after a long break at $460/mt ex-works.
It is believed that, despite the overall weakness of domestic billet demand, Kardemir was able to successfully sell more than 100,000 mt of billet as buyers wanted to replenish the gaps in their inventories caused by the long-standing absence of offers in the local Turkish billet market, and also due to their belief that they would not find this price level in the near future from other producers due to higher scrap quotations.
On the other hand, it is observed that traders’ offers in the local Turkish billet market are at $465-475/mt ex-warehouse. However, given the approaching local elections, buyers are not expected to purchase more than their needs before gaining a clearer perspective of the future situation in the finished steel markets.
Similar to demand in the local Turkish billet market, demand in the local finished steel market is also at very low levels under the current market circumstances. Considering that the downward pressure exerted on finished steel prices has strengthened, current domestic billet offers of Turkish mills are not expected to gain acceptance from buyers.