Most players in the Turkish billet market are trying to evaluate the price situation, taking into account that the uptrend in the import scrap market has failed to prove its sustainability so far and that the expected estimated levels have not yet been reached. Not all sellers of Russian origin billet are offering to Turkey since some of them are out of cargoes, some are trying to understand the workable levels, and some, according to their own statements, are going to be under maintenance during August and so they claim they will have only be able to sell for September.
The previous week was unclear and the prices were hovering at around $600-620/mt CFR, while an unconfirmed deal for 6,000-7,000 mt at the higher end of the range was discussed in the market. This week, there is talk about an ex-Russia billet cargo of around 15,000-20,000 mt sold to Turkey’s Izmir region at $590/mt CFR. Some market players, however, report it was done at $600/mt CFR.
The current offers for ex-Russia billet are scarce with Tula, Evraz, Novorosmetal, and Abinskiy being out of the market. “Everyone is confused. Let’s see in a few days as I personally think Turkey will play this game depending on local demand,” a trader told SteelOrbis. The most recent few offers to Turkey’s billet market have been voiced at no lower than $610-620/mt CFR, but some sellers agree the bids will be at $590-600/mt CFR tops. However, some suppliers are still looking to get $650/mt CFR.
While rebar prices are still at around $700/mt ex-works as per workable levels, local billet offers seem to be scarce. Offers from Izmir and Marmara region-based suppliers do not seem to be close to any buyers’ expectations, while in the Iskenderun region biller prices are at around $680-700/mt ex-works still. “Billet prices at $660-670/mt seem to be the minimum in the local market, but the problem is that it does not make sense for product rolling with the current product price levels,” a source believes.
The current SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia biller is at $560/mt FOB, stable from the past week and in line with the most recently reported deal to Turkey. Although there was an expectation for billet prices to firm up, this has so far not happened.