CIS-based billet suppliers have been looking for alternative sales destinations after the demand from Egypt, seen last week, has faded away. As a result, positive sentiments have turn to negative and much lower prices have been fixed in the latest deals for ex-CIS billet.
A deal for a large lot of around 50,000 mt of ex-CIS billet has been reported as being sold to the Dominican Republic at $690/mt CFR, and, though the final confirmation that the contract has already been signed has not been received by the time of publication, sources have said that negotiations were in place at this price. The CFR level corresponds to around $610-615/mt FOB base, according to different sources. No other buyers from Latin America are in the market at the moment, SteelOrbis heard.
Also, a smaller-volume deal for ex-CIS billet has been heard to Tunisia at $670/mt CFR with some sources reporting it was for wire rod grade billet. As a result, the FOB price level has been estimated at not above $610/mt FOB.
Some offers for ex-CIS billet have been reported at $670/mt CFR, which translates to $620/mt FOB or so. Some mills are still indicating the tradable level for them at $680/mt CFR Egypt and above. But after numerous deals to this country after the cancelation of the safeguard duty, demand has eased. The last deal for ex-CIS billet has been rumoured at $670/mt CFR to Egypt, but it has not been confirmed and market sources said that, if done, it should be last week.
Turkey is currently mainly out of the focus of the large CIS-based billet exporters as Turkish buyers’ price ideas have fallen significantly over the past week. Moreover, most of the customers are considered to be reluctant even to start negotiations at the moment. The key reason is the drastic fall in the value of the Turkish lira, which is causing a lot of problems for business. “I would say overall it is not a good time to import right now and, in addition, this all [situation] will result in banking problems and credit lines issues,” a trader told SteelOrbis. Rare offers are there on the import side at around $655-665/mt CFR for end December-January shipment but, according to sources, some buyers have been expressing price ideas not higher than $620-630/mt CFR. One deal for wire rod grade billet has been rumoured in the market as having been closed at $630/mt FOB from Russia, but it has been denied by the alleged seller. The freight to Turkey is estimated at $30-35/mt as of today.
Most major CIS-based mills have been offering billet at $620-630/mt FOB Black Sea early this week, while some offers for ex-Russia billet for January shipment have been voiced at $610-615/mt FOB. Last week, most mills were targeting $630-640/mt FOB at least. At some destinations and for material for later shipment like February offers are still at $630/mt FOB and above, but most market sources said this is out of the achievable range for now.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-CIS billet has been cut by $22.5/mt on average to $610-615/mt FOB with the midpoint at $612.5/mt FOB.