Following the still low bids for import billet seen in Turkey early in the current week, negotiations have been stalled coming towards the end of the week. With higher-priced import scrap deals, billet suppliers are feeling they could get higher prices from Turkey and so have refused buyers’ targets. Customers, on the other hand, are not quite sure the trend will be sustainable and supported by rebar sales. As a result, the number of negotiations has increased somewhat, but the sides are hesitating to conclude transactions.
Most offers for ex-Black Sea billet have been coming to Turkey at $470-475/mt CFR this week, which translates to around $445-450/mt FOB depending on the volume. And even though some large buyers have still been insisting on last weeks’ bids at $450/mt CFR, most market sources have been seeing improvements in the market and some bids have increased to $460-465/mt CFR (around $440/mt FOB). “Even these bids [at $460-465/mt CFR] are on the verge of profitability [for suppliers]. We are asking higher and are not in a rush to sell so far,” a trader said. “There is a recovery in both the scrap and billets markets, but, mainly in talks, not in real deals,” another source said. It is worth mentioning that there is an offer for around 10,000 mt of billet in the market for delivery in August at $480/mt CFR, but it is not yet considered widely workable. Nevertheless, a small cargo of 3,000 mt of ex-Russia billet for immediate shipment has been sold at $495/mt CFR Zonguldak lately as small buyers have started to return to the market.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has been increased by $7.5/mt since late last week to $440-445/mt FOB Black Sea, the price does not include prompt shipment sales.
In the local Turkish billet market, the latest deals in the Iskenderun region were closed last week first at $510/mt ex-works and later on at up to $520/mt ex-works. The total volume of the deals done by three mills is around 20,000-25,000 mt, sources report. In the export segment, some Turkish mills are targeting $520-530/mt FOB, versus buyers’ price ideas at $500-510/mt FOB maximum.