Buyers in the local Turkish billet market have been filled with apprehension amid recent political and economic uncertainties in Turkey and due to the ongoing sharp depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar, while demand in the market has nearly come to a halt this week. Due to the weakness of demand, Turkish steel producers have reduced their domestic billet quotations by an average of $15/mt week on week to $400-410/mt ex-works. It is thought that domestic billet prices in Turkey may decline further in the short term amid the lower import scrap quotations seen in ex-Europe and ex-Baltic scrap deals concluded last weekend.
On the other hand, ex-CIS billet offers to Turkey have increased by $10/mt on the upper end week on week to $405-425/mt CFR against the backdrop of the upward revisions in billet prices made by two CIS-based steel producers. Turkish steel producers are finding it difficult to make predictions for their export sales and so they are unlikely to accept the rises in ex-CIS billet offers, which they already considered to be on the high side.
Although domestic billet prices in China have moved up following the rises recorded in the Chinese futures markets, Chinese billet suppliers have kept their billet offers to Turkey stable week on week at $415-425/mt FOB due to the weakness of demand in their target markets.