Though there is still a lack of clarity in the scrap market and no downward movements have been confirmed so far, sentiments in the billet market in Turkey are still bearish, and this has been impacting ex-Russia billet quotations.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has declined further, to $595-605/mt FOB Black Sea, down by $5/mt from Friday.
Deals for 16,000 mt in total of ex-Russia billet for March shipment were done to Turkey at $625-628/mt CFR late last week. The FOB price translates to around $600-603/mt. Deal prices for prompt shipment Russian material have lost $7-8/mt from the previous contracts reported in the middle of last week.
In addition, there has been information in the market about 20,000 mt of ex-Donbass billet sold at $620/mt CFR to Turkey, corresponding to around $590/mt FOB. Though this has not been confirmed by the time of publication, the price level is in line with some market sources' expectations or even above them. “The market mood is really bad,” a selling source said. “I don’t think that it is possible to sell even at $620/mt CFR to Turkey now,” another exporter said, as bids for small billet lots have dropped further.
For larger lots of ex-Russia or some other origins, the highest bids have been heard at $630-635/mt CFR late last week, but with no new deals reported.
Along with the above offers and deal, there has been information about around 3,000 mt of ex-Donbass billet recently sold to Turkey’s Karabuk region. The rumored price range is $610-615/mt CFR, which is considered by some sources to be a “normal” level for billet of this origin as of today. However, the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
