Offers for ex-Russia billet have continued to fall rapidly as traders and mills try to attract customers even despite the still high risks (in payments, deliveries and reputation), mainly targeting the Turkish market. As a result, the gap between prices from Russia and local prices in Turkey, for instance, has reached as high as $90/mt.
The main target destination for ex-Russia billet has remained Turkey. After some deals done last week, suppliers are still interested in sales, and so offers for ex-Russia billet have slipped to $800-820/mt CFR Turkey, which is assessed at $750-770/mt FOB Black Sea at the highest. At the same time, bids have been reported at below the $800/mt CFR mark. In addition, a trader has offered an ex-Donbass billet at $790/mt CFR.
One Turkish mill has received an offer at $780/mt CFR, adding that he “would not touch it.”
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has been lowered to $750/mt FOB, down by $30/mt since late last week.
Aside from cargoes originating from Russia, some ex-Iran lots are also still on offer to Turkey. Some May shipment cargoes are priced at $780-800/mt CFR, while some sources report there are ready cargoes, offered at $810/mt ex-warehouse from the Marmara region and the estimated delivered price to Iskenderun-based buyers is close to $850/mt CFR. “Some call it Azeri origin, while some say it is from Iran. These were booked at $785/mt [CFR] two to three weeks back,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
No active billet offers from the Asian markets to Turkey have been heard lately, as their prices are not competitive due to high freight rates. For instance, the latest billet offers from India were at $850-870/mt CFR, marking a $60-70/mt difference with the billet offers available from Russia.
In the domestic billet market in Turkey, offers in the Iskenderun region are at $870-880/mt ex-works and up to $890-900/mt ex-works in mills’ rare indications in other regions. “Rebar producers resist buying billet. Demand is poor,” a source in Turkey said.