The billet market situation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is still under pressure from low longs pricing and insufficient demand. In addition, Russian prices have been falling for several weeks before the attempt at a rebound which affected the offers of Iranian mills. Some deals have been done within the region, partly as the offers from distant markets are scarce and non-workable.
In the UAE, according to sources, a local mill sold two 20,000 mt lots of billet at $580-585/mt ex-works. Another regional supplier, this time from Oman, traded a large volume to the UAE at $610/mt CPT. Still, some sources believe the price for billet from Oman should be lower taking into account there are some rebar offers at $635/mt CPT.
Other suppliers, particularly from Bahrain and Oman are offering this week at $570-585/mt CPT UAE, buyers report. Iran, which closed several tenders at $500/mt FOB last week, has started offering at $525-550/mt FOB to the GCC region and the freight is estimated at around $25-30/mt. “The cheapest billet today in the UAE is at $560/mt CFR,” a re-roller told SteelOrbis.
It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of July billet prices in the UAE stood at $620-630/mt delivered.