Import billet offers in Turkey have rebounded slightly over the past week following the rise in futures prices in China, being partially a result of negotiations with the US and positive sentiments. Taking into account stronger import scrap prices in Turkey, some interest in import billet has been seen despite the long lead times for Asian billet. Still, according to sources, Malaysian duty-free billet has been preferred lately as Turkish buyers are still eager to stay on the safe side.
As the new week starts, import billet prices in Turkey from China have increased from $455-460/mt CFR seen earlier to mainly $466-470/mt CFR. The cargoes are for July shipment, which is considered to be quite risky since scrap is now being booked for June shipment. However, information about two ex-Malaysia bookings has been actively discussed in the market, as regards the deals having been closed in the past week to buyers in the northern part of Turkey and the Iskenderun region. The prices reported in the market vary at $465-470/mt CFR and $475-480/mt CFR depending on the customer. “The higher end should be more realistic for Malaysian cargoes especially if it is a position cargo,” a source told SteelOrbis. Indonesian material is indicatively available at $470/mt CFR, more or less in line with ex-China offers.
Ex-Russia billet offers have also remained largely indicative, at $440/mt FOB Black Sea as per the SteelOrbis daily reference price, up by $5-10/mt over the past week, making it around $460/mt CFR Turkey. Still, according to some sources, the price idea of Turkish customers is still closer to around $450/mt CFR and maybe slightly below.
Local billet prices in Turkey have also rebounded in the official offers, to $500-515/mt ex-works/CPT, up from the earlier available $490-507/mt ex-works. In particular, in the Iskenderun region the current offers are at $500-505/mt ex-works, while late in the past week a deal was closed at $497/mt ex-works.
