Today, November 25, the Turkish billet market has been a little surprised by Kardemir’s sales of almost 160,000 mt after a long absence from the market. The producer had announced a price of TRY 3,960/mt ($495/mt) ex-works for S235JR grade and TRY 3,995/mt ($499/mt) ex-works for S420-B420 (formerly III-A) and sold the abovementioned volume in a couple of hours.
However, Kardemir’s price has not been the highest fixed in deals in Turkey. In the Iskenderun region, a producer has sold 19,000 mt at $500/mt ex-works and is now targeting $505-510/mt ex-works. According to sources, the company will stop its rebar mill for maintenance shortly, and so the billet availability in the market will be at more sufficient levels, SteelOrbis understands. Last week, the same producer sold 40,000 mt at $480/mt ex-works. Some sources say that afterwards certain volumes have been traded at $490-495/mt ex-works, but the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
In the import segment, the offers remain largely uncertain while ex-CIS mills are mainly targeting $490-500/mt FOB. “I think $490-495/mt CFR would work today in Turkey but it is mainly traders who will close, while producers are flying higher,” a trader told SteelOrbis. Others say that traders do not have large volumes as position cargoes to sell for now.