Billet prices have been increasing in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market, supported by the solid uptrend in steel scrap globally and bullish sentiment in the ex-CIS semis segment.
While in the previous round of sales, deals for billet were mainly closed at $430-435/mt CPT in the UAE, both locally and ex-Oman, today offers are at least $20/mt higher. Emirates Steel Industries (ESI) has been placing offers at $455-460/mt CPT. Sources report there has been a 20,000 mt sale at the higher end of this range; however, there are some doubts among market players that such levels have already been accepted. “One can accept this price if desperate to restock or if one believes there will be a significant jump in the rebar prices for January,” a GCC source said.
Abu Dhabi-based Arabian Gulf Steel Industries is offering $450/mt ex-works with no fresh deals reported yet.
No offers have been heard from Oman and Bahrain, resulting in a somewhat limited available allocation in the UAE market. “There is no billet to offer, but the price would not be lower than $450-455/mt CPT,” an Omani producer said.
Inquiries keep coming: a Sharjah-based re-roller in particular has an urgent requirement for 20,000-30,000 mt for January delivery. Some demand is also coming from Bahrain for 10,000-15,000 mt, SteelOrbis has learned.
