Billet pricing in Turkey has weakened over the past week as a result of slow rebar demand and the decreasing scrap prices seen in the latest deals. As a result, in the local market billet has been sold at a discount, while bids for imported semis have dropped significantly. Moreover, imports remain challenging due to still high freight rates.
In the Iskenderun region, one mill has traded a total of around 40,000 mt of billet this week at $640/mt ex-works, down $20/mt compared to the previous deals. In other regions of Turkey, the price level is estimated at no higher than $645-650/mt ex-works, although no firm deals have been confirmed by the time of publication. “Nobody has bought since last week and actually it is hard to say what the actual price is. Mills are not willing either to sell much,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Still, domestic billet suppliers are in a beneficial position as compared to foreign ones, taking into account the still high freight rates. Official offers from the CIS-based large mills are reported at $640/mt FOB with the freight estimated at $30/mt. Bids from Turkish buyers have been mainly heard at $640/mt CFR, while some have even insisted on $625/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. In the meantime, information about a small sale closed at $638/mt CFR Bartin has been circulating in the market. Most sources believe it was done for material originating from the east of Ukraine. Last week, most offers from the CIS were at $660-670/mt CFR from large suppliers.