Square billet is on offer in Turkey at some various levels in the import segment, depending on the supplier, the origin of the material, and the shipment terms. Some rare deals have been closed, but generally Turkish buyers prefer watching the market due to the severe currency depreciation, the weaker business in Egypt for billet, and the insufficient rebar trade.
In the domestic market in Turkey, local mill Kardemir traded over 42,000 mt of billet this week at an unexpectedly high price - at $688-693/mt ex-works depending on the steel grade. However, other that this, domestic sales have been rather slow in Turkey as the buyers are hesitating to take firm decisions. The prices are reported at $690-700/mt ex-works/CPT mainly, but discounts to $680-685/mt ex-works are considered possible.
On the import side, offer levels for billet are in a rather wide range of $650-675/mt CFR, down by $10/mt over the past week. A Ukraine-based mill recently sold 10,000 mt of billet at $650/mt CFR Marmara, versus around $642-645/mt CFR in initial bids. Still, other ex-CIS producers report they are able to get $670/mt CFR from some buyers for decent tonnages. Billet originating from the eastern part of Ukraine has been on offer from $655/mt to $670-675/mt CFR depending on the supplier, their positions and their recent trades to Egypt. “It seems that Egyptians have slowed down after a lot of bookings and the sellers are watching now. Also, the supply in the market is lower now, at least on the traders’ side,” a source said.
“More activity is expected from Russian mills next week as they will negotiate January shipment billets, so this will exert slightly more pressure on prices,” a trader said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-CIS billet has remained at $610-615/mt FOB by the end of the week, stable from the middle of this week, but down by $22.5/mt from the previous week. The latest bid for ex-CIS billet from Tunisia has been heard at $657/mt CFR, which translates to below $610/mt FOB Black Sea. Customers in Egypt “are waiting for the market to go down further before signing new deals,” a source said, adding that the latest deals signed at $670-675/mt CFR mainly late last week.