Billet business activity in Turkey has been more or less stalled so far this week, partly due to previously closed bookings, but mainly due to the buyers not being willing to make purchasing decisions due to market uncertainty. While longs exports remain weak and challenging, domestic trade has been greatly affected by financial instability in Turkey. In the meantime, import scrap prices remain stable and the mood is relatively positive, and so there have been some upticks in the domestic billet segment, while import offers have stabilized.
Turkey’s integrated Kardemir has increased its billet price by $5/mt over the past week and has opened sales at $600-605/mt ex-works depending on the steel grade. So far, the supplier has traded around 25,000 mt, while its sales remain open. The other billet suppliers in Turkey remain at $595-605/mt ex-works Iskenderun, around $610/mt CPT Marmara and $610-615/mt ex-works Izmir, for small lots. “Buyers find it hard to decide on their billet purchases, since rebar prices are quite difficult to define due to the currency and the lack of market confidence,” a trader said.
The same reasons also weigh on import billet decisions in Turkey. Steel producers are refraining from large bookings from Asia for August shipments, taking into account the long lead times, and so they prefer concentrating on scrap bookings for now. Some offers for ex-Malaysia billet, which is not subject to import duty in Turkey, have been reported at $565/mt CFR for July shipment this week. Indonesian billets are on offer at $555-560/mt CFR, also failing to attract interest in Turkey.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has been maintained at $515-520/mt FOB Black Sea, which corresponds to the last offers and deals for July shipment material reported earlier this month. “We are surprised that the Turks are so silent… We sold out until end-of-July shipment, and it is too early for discussions for August,” a trader selling Russian billet said. Some offers for ex-Donbass and ex-Belarus billet have been at $545-555/mt CFR Turkey, but also mainly for August shipment. Small cargoes for immediate shipments from Russia are still on offer at $570/mt CFR, while it is believed that levels $5-10/mt lower may be accepted by customers in need of urgent deliveries.