Billet imports have revived slightly in Turkey, although the workable levels have remained low and have not been accepted by most large sellers. Moreover, the CIS-based mills are mainly focused on sales to China, where demand and prices have been rising. Accordingly, Turkish buyers, which have been delaying purchases for a while now, may not get the needed allocation even if they are ready to pay higher levels.
This week, small lots of billet from the CIS have been on offer at $620-635/mt CFR, almost in line with prices at the end of August. One deal has reportedly been closed at $620/mt CFR Iskendenderun, while one seller has traded a total of 12,000 mt at $612/mt CFR northern Turkey and at $617/mt CFR Izmir.
In the local Turkish market, Kardemir sold close to 40,000 mt at $623-628/mt ex-works depending on the steel grade. In the Marmara region, two local sellers were offering at $625/mt ex-works this week, while in the Iskenderun region offers were at $620/mt ex-works, in line with the deal prices last week. In the Izmir region, one of the mills has been offering at $625-630/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis has learned.
Exports may become a temporary option for Turkish mills since deal prices to China have been climbing. This week, the workable import level in China has reached $710-715/mt CFR and the sellers’ new targets are at $720/t CFR, taking into account the recent local price increase in China. Earlier this week, billet offers from the Iskenderun region were on the table at $705/mt CFR, but were not accepted by buyers.