Iran-based steel billet suppliers have been aiming to take full advantage of the recent acceleration of buying interest in China. Specifically, closely watching the developments in the Chinese billet market, they have continued their attempts to obtain higher prices in tenders.
Accordingly, yesterday, September 8, an Iran-based steel billet supplier closed its tender for 20,000 mt of steel billet at $629/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has learned. The price is $4-12/mt higher compared to the levels fixed in bookings last week. Apart from brisk demand in China, where the material in the tender is destined to be shipped to, Iran-based steel billet exporters are taking advantage of lower freight rates in comparison to certain other global billet suppliers. Specifically, ex-CIS billet prices are under more pressure on FOB basis, taking into account freight costs from the Black Sea region to China at $85-100/mt. A CFR price for ex-Iran billet in China is assessed to be at $690-695/mt CFR, taking into account the freight rate and all finance-related issues.
Meanwhile, ex-ASEAN billet prices have hit and exceeded $700/mt CFR in a booking to China, as SteelOrbis has reported earlier.