Billet prices in Turkey have increased significantly over the past week, supported by the solid uptrend in the import scrap segment. For now, some activity has been seen in the local and export segments, while imports may become more active next week.
Export prices from Turkey have jumped to $420-430/mt FOB for January-February shipments, versus $400-410/mt FOB a week earlier. There has been a lot of discussion regarding rumors of a 15,000 mt sale for the north of the country at $425/mt FOB. In addition, a 10,000-15,000 mt lot was reportedly booked from Iskenderun for January shipment at $430/mt FOB for North Africa. Most market players believe such export levels are too high for now for direct sales. “All the high-priced sales today are either position cargoes or traders averaging out with previous low-priced bookings,” a trader said. “It doesn’t mean $430/mt FOB works,” he added. The realistic ex-CIS billet level at present is estimated at $405-410/mt FOB.
Import offers to Turkey have been mostly coming at $420-430/mt CFR for February shipments, up $10/mt over the past week. No fresh deals have been reported, though negotiations continue. Some traders say levels higher than $420/mt CFR are not reachable for now and some bids have been reported at $415/mt CFR. In the local market, Izmir region-based mills are quoting $430/mt ex-works and up to $440/mt ex-works. In Iskenderun, billet is on offer at $425-430/mt ex-works at the end of the week. According to sources, around 20,000-30,000 mt were sold at $420-425/mt ex-works.