CIS billet export offers up

CIS billet export offers are currently in the $470-475/mt FOB Black Sea price range for April shipments. Billet offers from the CIS are continuing to increase due to the strong demand from North Africa and the Middle East. Customers are in particular anxious to find billet for shipment in March. Ukrainian billet offers for Turkey are at $485-495/mt CFR. However, customers are currently acting with less enthusiasm for these prices, since they consider that the gap between domestic and import prices is not sufficiently wide. The Italian domestic market has not yet picked up enough for these prices to be accepted. North Africa and the Middle East seem to be the nearest regions interested in billet imports from the CIS due to the high prices of alternative suppliers and the longer shipment periods. However, the customers in these regions feel uneasy over the rapid rise in prices.