The Turkish billet market remains flooded with offers from Russia and most Russian suppliers seem to have become more and more desperate to sell. The buyers in general are not willing to assume the risks relating to payments, insurance, shipments and deliveries, which are highly problematic for Russia nowadays due to sanctions. In addition, the market prices have clearly been going down, and so billet customers are reluctant to purchase and are certainly not ready to risk high-volume purchases. Still, some re-rollers, according to sources, have found a relatively safe way for them to import and have booked small lots, especially given that prices have dropped by at least $50/mt over the past week.
This week, according to Turkish sources, sellers of Russian billet, namely, Amesco, Abinskiy and Novorossmetal, have been active in their offers to almost every customer. “We were getting a lot of calls with various payment suggestions, different tonnages, and very flexible pricing. I must say they really need to sell,” a Turkish buyer said. Early this week, as SteelOrbis reported, the offers were at around $780-800/mt CFR and above, but later on they dropped to $770-780/mt CFR.
In the meantime, around 16,000 mt of ex-Russia billet in total have recently been sold by DLT company. Some buyers from Zonguldak and Izmir agreed to buy at $770-774/mt CIF/DAP, mainly with cash upon delivery payment, with which the company has been working or payments for a while, SteelOrbis understands. It is also mentioned that deferred or open account payment is also available and that the insurance risks, which are causing a lot of problems, are borne by the seller. Therefore, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has slipped further to $710-720/mt FOB Black Sea, down by $7.5/mt on average since yesterday and by $65/mt since last week.
Following these sales, the other Russian billet sellers, according to sources, have decreased their offers even more, now voicing $750-760/mt CFR to some customers. In the meantime, domestic billet prices in Turkey are at $870-890/mt ex-works, still with no demand seen, hence the large gap with import offers. “Local prices are too high to pay, while Russia is offering $100/mt lower, and scrap is expected to decline in the coming days. So, prices for billet will clearly decrease again,” a trader told SteelOrbis.