The Turkish billet market has become rather lively lately in terms of domestic sales, specifically done by mills based in the Iskenderun region. Basically, many other domestic suppliers have not had sufficient availability for weeks now and, moreover, some of them tend to purchase billet instead of selling. In the meantime, the import billet segment seems to be experiencing a cautious rebound in buyers’ price ideas and general moods. The market players are mainly evaluating the limited supply from Russia and less aggressive distant suppliers as the key reason for such a situation. In addition, there have been some higher-priced rebar sales from Turkey, while the overall production capacity remains very much restricted.
In the domestic market, one mill traded 5,000 mt this week at $550/mt and 10,000 mt at $559/mt, both on ex-works basis. In addition, another seller in the Iskenderun region traded a medium-sized lot at $560/mt ex-works. Another sale for 10,000 mt, according to sources, has recently been closed at $559/mt FOB Iskenderun to an Izmir-based buyer. The freight in this case is around $13-14/mt, sources estimate. In the Marmara region, a small seller is in the market with around $560-565/mt CPT, SteelOrbis has learned.
Ex-Russia billet prices are also expected to have bottomed up, with the number of offers being limited at the moment. New offers from Russia are awaited at $520/mt CFR and above, which translates to $485-490/mt FOB, though last week offers from a number of suppliers have come down to $510-515/mt CFR and even one small deal was heard as having been done by a trader at $500-505/mt CFR. “Clients are showing more interest and are ready to increase bids. The mood is better than last week,” a trader said. However, some sources believe that prices for billets have limited space for increases in general in Turkey. “Asian prices have gone up, but no one has booked. If billet is high, then the Turks will buy scrap. So, I think billet prices cannot go above $530/mt CFR for imported billets,” another trader said.
As a result, ex-Russia billet prices have risen slightly by $5/mt on average to $485/mt FOB.
Asian suppliers have been at around $530-535/mt CFR Turkey, which is at the upper end of last week’s range. In addition, this week the market has been full of talk about a 50,000 mt sale at around $520/mt CFR, with no further details disclosed. In addition, an Algerian producer sold 20,000 mt of billet to Turkey at around $520/mt CFR or slightly below for November-December shipment.