Billet trade in Turkey has slowed down compared to the previous couple of weeks, but still any activity that materializes is expected mainly for domestic origin and for ex-Black Sea billet, which is normally available for a much shorter lead time compared to Asian billet.
Import offers from China have settled at $465-466/mt CFR for shipment in early January, while earlier this week levels as low as $460-462/mt CFR were also possible. The price ideas of Turkish mills are evaluated at around $455-458/mt CFR and, overall, even the price offered by China should also be more or less workable versus the current levels of $550-560/mt ex-works for domestic rebar in Turkey.
Ex-Malaysia January shipment billet was lastly sold to Turkey at $485-490/mt CFR for 25,000 mt as a top-up cargo, while the same level is available for new lots as well. Ex-Indonesia billet offers remain indicative at $468-470/mt CFR for January shipment, being hardly of any interest to Turkish buyers.
Turkey’s domestic billet production costs based on HMS I/II (80:20) scrap at $350-355/mt CFR are currently estimated at $500/mt on average, while local billet offers are mainly at $505-515/mt ex-works depending on the region, up $5/mt over the past week. Some sales have been reported for medium-size lots in the Iskenderun region at $505-508/mt ex-works, up $5/mt from the previous transactions.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet is unchanged at $435-440/mt FOB for the second week in a row. Most offers to Turkey are still at $455-460/mt CFR, with the tradable level near the lower end of the range. “We don’t see many deals now, but this is temporary as Russia is a stable source of billets with short lead times,” a source said.
