Prices have again fallen in Turkey’s square billet market, following the free fall in the import scrap segment. This week, billet exports offers from Turkish mills are heard to be in the range of $385-395/mt FOB, down by around $10/mt since early September. According to the sources, around 20,000-25,000 mt have been sold to Morocco at $380/mt FOB Iskenderun, however, the information was not confirmed by the time of publication. “The price of $380/mt FOB shall be there for sure, Turkish steelmakers may still try $385-390/mt ex-works considering the $370/mt FOB level from the CIS region,” a trader believes. In the meantime, local billet prices remain blurry for now; Kardemir is expected to announce the tender next week and to bring more clarity to the market.
In the import segment, most CIS billet offers were reported at $385/mt CFR Turkey and slightly above, down by around $5/mt over the past week. However, some say the billets from traders are available at $380/mt CFR. In the meantime, buyers’ price idea is mostly heard at $370-375/mt CFR with no fresh transactions reported at this level.