CIS-based billet exporters have started to slowly come back from the holidays and most of them believe that prices will keep going up in the near future. Demand has remained poor so far.
Offers from a number of major CIS-based mills have been coming at $620/mt FOB and above. One Russian producer has been able to offer at $605/mt FOB, which was considered as workable in late December and may attract some attention from buyers when they resume their purchases.
“We do not believe that export duty for billet is possible. It doesn’t make sense,” a Russian exporter said.
“As long as the scrap market [in Turkey] continues its positive performance, we believe prices for billets will keep going up,” a source said, adding that a number of Russian producers are aiming to achieve prices as high as $660/mt FOB in the future.
The ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap price in Turkey has increased by $7/mt in a deal over the past week to $480/mt CFR. At the same time, the import billet market is also expected to increase in the near future. The tradable value for imported billet in Turkey is currently $610-620/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-CIS billet has remained at $600-610/mt FOB so far as the market is waiting for fresh bookings.