Billet prices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman have reflected some sizeable drop in the latest deals closed in the second half of September compared to earlier in the month. Moreover, local re-rollers target additional discounts in new transactions now when rebar pricing has gain clarity. Billet of local Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region origin remains preferred with only limited attention paid to import offers.
An Omani integrated mill has sold around 20,000 mt of billet to the UAE at $402/mt CPT, while another ex-Oman sale was reported in the market but for wire rod grade at $407/mt CPT. In addition, according to the sources, the seller closed some medium-sized lots locally within the range of $400-405/mt CPT, SteelOrbis has learned. Oman has been active in billet exports also - a cargo was reportedly booked to Southeast Asia at $410/mt CFR for high vanadium grade, which is coming to around $370-375/mt FOB base, sources estimate. Another deal has reportedly been sealed to Europe again for value-added grade; however, the details were not disclosed by the time of publication.
Theh domestic square billet price from UAE-based Arabian Gulf Steel Industries is around $400/mt ex-works, while around the same price level is available from Emirates Steel Industries (ESI), but on delivered basis. Around 15,000-20,000 mt of billet have been sold from ESI to Oman at slightly above $400/mt CPT, SteelOrbis has learned. In addition, according to the sources, around 30,000 mt of billet have been booked to the UAE at $380/mt CFR via a trader.
As a result, billet is priced at $400-405/mt ex-works/CPT in the UAE and Oman, indicating a drop of around $20/mt since early September. However, the new bids from the buyers are hardly above $380/mt ex-works/CPT according to the rebar price situation. “People have been losing money for a while now, so today everyone is targeting to book the lowest price possible in case there will be another drop [of rebar prices] in November,” a local source said.
