Billet suppliers to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) region have been finding it rather challenging to find a serious buyer within the past couple of weeks. The main reason is the weaker demand for rebar and wire rod in both the UAE and Oman, following the recently introduced import regulation in Saudi Arabia, which has been a good sales outlet for longs producers within the region. As a result, billet prices have weakened over the past two weeks.
According to the UAE-based sources, local prices for billet are at $690/mt CPT from the main producer, with not much interest seen since the local rebar price dropped to $714-717/mt ex-works due to the halting of sales to Saudi Arabia. Moreover, some market players report the mill has a large cargo of billet, sold earlier to China, but rejected by the customer. Accordingly, if needed, discounts may be provided to local customers.
Import billet offers from Oman have been standing at $670-690/mt CPT UAE depending on the supplier, with $650/mt CPT also being reported from minor sellers. As a result, ex-Oman billet in the UAE dropped by $10-15/mt over the mentioned period. In the local market in Oman, some mills have been offering $630-650/mt ex-works for billet, SteelOrbis has learned.
The number of deep sea billet offers has been scarce in the GCC. Ex-India levels have been reported at $675-680/mt CFR, but are not workable against domestic offers. Billet from the CIS remains non-workable in most markets due to high freight rates and low-priced inquiries. SteelOrbis’ daily price for the CIS billet is at $610-635/mt FOB depending on the seller, while the freight to the UAE and Oman is estimated at not less than $60/mt as of today.