Offer prices for ex-CIS billet have not changed much over the past week due to limited allocation. At the same time, bids from the MENA region are still low and overall trading activity has been very slow. Information about a further scrap price weakening in Turkey which emerged on Friday has hit sentiment in the billet market further.
Offers from the majority of CIS-based mills have been coming at $410-420/mt FOB these days, versus mainly $415-420/mt FOB last week. “No one will accept below $410/mt FOB and it is hard to find this price, but possible,” one producer told SteelOrbis. A number of big steelmakers have kept offers at $420/mt FOB officially or have not voiced fresh offers, sources have said, citing limited allocation.
At the same time, bids from the majority of customers are still at $400-405/mt FOB or below. A trader’s ex-CIS billet position cargo of 10,000 mt has been sold to Qatar at $438/mt CFR, which translates to slightly below $405/mt FOB. Deals are possible mainly from traders at the moment, while “I think mills will not sell the rest of November rolling billet by October 10,” a trader said. “While there is no sharp scrap price drop yet, we cannot see deals for billet,” another source said. This week, scrap prices in Turkey have posted just a slight decline to $292/mt CFR in a deal, but information about a drop to $284/mt CFR circulating in the market has added to the weak sentiment in the billet segment.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-CIS billet has remained at $405-410/mt FOB so far.