Ex-CIS billet prices decline amid downward pressure

SteelOrbis reported last week that the ongoing blockade of railway lines in eastern Ukraine due to continuing political tensions in the country had caused problems with raw material procurement for the steel producers in the region, forcing some of them to halt production. Meanwhile, it was observed that ex-CIS billet export offer prices had remained unchanged due to this tightness of supply, despite the weakness of demand for ex-CIS billet and the sharp declines seen in Chinese billet export offers.
 
However, Chinese billet export prices have declined to $400/mt FOB in the current week in line with the sharp decreases in iron ore quotations, exerting downward pressure on the global billet market. As a result, CIS-based suppliers' billet prices to the export markets have declined by $10/mt week on week to $380-390/mt FOB.
 
Following this decline, ex-CIS billet offers to Turkey have also decreased to $400-410/mt CFR, though Turkish buyers still consider this price range to be on the high side.
 
In Egypt, another target market of CIS-based billet suppliers, recent ex-CIS billet offer prices are reportedly at $400-405/mt CFR, but SteelOrbis has been informed that these price levels have failed to gain acceptance from Egyptian buyers.