Turkey’s interest in billet imports has been moderate lately and those who have needed to restock have preferred to buy from the Black Sea region since Asian offer prices have remained largely unworkable. The billet allocations from Russia and Donbass are still rather restricted, but several deals are reported to have been closed lately, all with a price decline from the previous levels. Overall, given the currently poor finished steel sales and low availability of billet with short lead times and at reasonable offer prices, mills are expected to concentrate on their scrap purchases. “However, I don’t think the actual scrap imports will increase since Turkey has already booked a lot of billet for the same delivery term, so price hikes for scrap may be unlikely,” one source stated.
Asian prices for billet to the Turkish market have remained at $545-555/mt CFR for June shipments, while the workable level is assessed at not higher than $530-535/mt CFR. “No one in Southeast Asia, in particular Malaysia, will sell below $500/mt FOB,” a source said. In addition, the freights on this destination have increased by a minimum of $5-10/mt and, for instance, 30,000-40,000 mt cargoes can be shipped from Asia at $40-45/mt freight minimum. The main reason is still the tense situation in the Red Sea and long queues, making some market players bear additional risks and costs and to sail around Africa.
Since the end of last week, a total of 20,000 mt of billet has been sold to Turkey’s Karabuk region at $525/mt CFR and $528-529/mt CFR for May shipment, while the initial offer stood at $540/mt CFR. In addition, according to sources, another trader has sold a small cargo at $517/mt CFR Karabuk, while up to 30,000 mt of Russian billet has been traded at $516/mt CFR Marmara for early June shipment. Currently, prompt material is on offer at $530/mt CFR to the same area but also to some of the Izmir region-based buyers. Other suppliers from the Black Sea are also offering at around $525-530/mt CFR and it is expected that with a firm bid Turkey may accept $515-520/mt CFR. The SteelOrbis daily reference price for Russian billet has dropped by $5/mt over the past week to $495-500/mt FOB.
Recently, billet sellers from the Black Sea region have been concentrating on sales to Egypt, which has been paying higher price levels compared to Turkey. The latest workable price levels for non-toxic origins have been set at around $545/mt CFR for June shipments. “Egypt is slowly getting overfed. I think many cargoes have already been shipped over there and the stocks at port have increased significantly. We expect lower activity in Egypt in June,” a source told SteelOrbis.
In the domestic market in Turkey, integrated producer Kardemir has not yet announced new sales, while some producers in other regions of the country have chosen to lower their prices under pressure from buyers. According to sources, small sales have been concluded in the Iskenderun region at $560/mt ex-works, while the earlier-voiced offers stood at $565-570/mt ex-works. In the Izmir region, some market players have reported billet offers at $550-555/mt ex-works, most probably coming from new production recently launched by one of the mills. Another supplier in the same region is targeting $560-565/mt ex-works minimum.
