Ex-CIS billet offers stable

According to market sources, ex-CIS billet prices have remained unchanged during the past week in the range of $245-260/mt FOB, for January production. Meanwhile, this week demand in the export markets for CIS billet is slack due to the influence of the holiday season, while transaction activity has slowed down significantly. Most market players in the CIS region are still out of the market due to the ongoing holidays. However, after the holiday season the downward pressure on CIS billet export offers is expected to continue amid competitive Chinese billet offers. Demand in the local CIS market is not expected to increase in the short term, while export volumes of billet from the CIS are foreseen to continue at current levels.