Square billet prices in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region have maintained their downward trend due to the pressure of low demand and falling prices for long products, specifically in the UAE. Market players expect to see further declines shortly, but in the billet segment the downturn may be limited since there is no oversupply and there are some uncertainties regarding Iran’s export tax.
Over the past three weeks, Iran’s billet offers to the UAE and Oman decreased by $15-25/mt to $715/mt CPT, marking the lowest market level as usual. “People are cautious regarding Iran as it is not yet clear which side will bear the export duty. If it is the buyer, the price should be $660-670/mt CFR and I doubt anyone will be happy to purchase,” a UAE-based producer told SteelOrbis.
Oman’s offers for the local and the UAE market have been reported at $740-750/mt CPT, down from the indicative levels of $850-860/mt CPT seen almost a month ago. Some of the buyers have reported they received $765/mt CPT from Oman. No offers have been heard from Bahrain as the supplier has reportedly been concentrating on lively merchant bar sales.
In the import segment, no active offers have been heard from distant markets. No firm prices have been heard from India for a while, and Russian mills prefer to concentrate on the outlets which are closer to them, such as Turkey and North Africa. The SteelOrbis latest FOB reference price for billet from Russia stood at $640-650/mt with the estimated freight of at least $80/mt to the GCC. “Even if the price is workable, they will have to sell a large volume, otherwise there is no point in terms of freight. Taking into account the risks, even uncertain Iran prices are better in this case,” a source said.
As for exports, an Oman-based mill is reported to be offering $830/mt CFR for billet to East Africa and the estimated FOB price is around $720-730/mt.