Demand in the local Turkish billet market has indicated a fluctuating trend over the past week. The Turkish lira has compensated for some of its losses against the US dollar in the given week and has received positive responses from the market, but Turkey’s economic outlook is still negatively impacting buyers in the local Turkish billet market, causing them to maintain a wait-and-see stance.
Meanwhile, Turkish steel producer Kardemir closed its billet sales yesterday, October 16, after selling about 65,500 mt in total. The mill had opened its sales earlier yesterday at the level of TRY 2,650/mt ($457/mt) ex-works for S235JR billet and at TRY 2,680/mt ($462mt) ex-works for MT III-A billet, both excluding VAT. Having revived slightly during these sales, demand in the local Turkish billet market has once again slackened after the closure of the sales, with buyers once again exerting pressure on domestic billet prices by returning to their wait-and-see stance. On the other hand, Turkish mills are unwilling to reduce their domestic billet offers considering the current production costs which are higher due to scrap prices maintaining their high levels, though they offer discounts of $5-10/mt depending on buyers and tonnages. Meanwhile, SteelOrbis has been informed that domestic billet prices in Turkey have remained stable over the past week at $475-480/mt ex-works.
$1 = TRY 5.80 (Oct.10)