In the billet market, the demand coming from certain markets continues to support the prices of both CIS and Turkish billet producers.
This week, billet demand from Iran has continued to be observed. A large volume of billets was sold to Iran from Turkey at $555-560/mt FOB. Following these sales, Turkish producers lifted their offers up to $565-570/mt FOB. In the Turkish market, import billet offers were this week in the range of $560-570/mt CFR. Tukish buyers booked billets at the levels closer to the lower end of this range.
In the CIS, billet offers ex-Black Sea have this week been given at $545-550/mt FOB. For the Far East markets, offers continue to be at high levels, while the Middle East and North Africa have concluded sales at levels close to $550/mt FOB. In Saudi Arabia, producers displayed strong demand for billets while Turkish producers' offers to Saudi Arabia were found to be too high by buyers in this market.
In the scrap market, offer levels have gone up. Demand for billets from Iran has continued to be observed. All these factors play a major role in shaping the billet markets given the direction of the raw material markets.