The Turkish market has started the new week with another price increase for local rebar and import billet, both being a result of the consequences of the ongoing war in the Middle East. While Asian billet offers have been rising as regional buyers are making up for the missing Iranian volumes, domestic rebar prices in the Turkey have been climbing amid spiraling market expectations but are not yet fully supported by demand and are considered to be rather artificial.
From the end of last week, the domestic rebar prices in Turkey have added another $5-10/mt to $575-585/mt ex-works depending on the region in official offers, while buyers report minor discounts are possible depending on the tonnage. The lower end of the range is seen in the Izmir and Iskenderun regions, while most Marmara region-based mills are at $580-585/mt ex-works. The official Icdas rebar price is at $575/mt ex-works Biga and $590/mt delivered to Istanbul, both up $5/mt over the past week. No solid domestic billet price level has been reported as of today, but it is mainly expected at $515-525/mt ex-works/CPT.
Import billet offers from China have increased by $5/mt from the end of last week and are now mainly at $520/mt CFR Turkey and slightly above. The cargoes are available for May shipments with estimated freight of $50-55/mt minimum for 50,000 mt lots.
Ex-China billet prices posted a rise last week, which was confirmed in a number of deals to regional buyers who tried to fill the gap left by Iran. But offers as high as $470/mt FOB and even above voiced by some exporters have been assessed as an exception. “Some quotes reached this level. But, also, I heard some Filipino trader has been trying to close a deal at around $450-450/mt FOB. This is a difficult price to get, but it signals that the market is not ready for excessively high offers,” a trader said. The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-China 3SP billet is stable at $455-465/mt FOB on Monday, March, 16, but it is up by $7.5/mt week on week.
In Turkey, the latest prices from Malaysia stood at $515/mt CFR but they might add $5-10/mt in the coming days. Ex-Indonesia billet indications in Turkish market are currently estimated at $530-535/mt CFR. “Unless we see rebar prices at $570-580/mt really working in Turkey, I don’t think Asian billet is an option if we are talking about massive imports,” a market source told SteelOrbis.
Ex-Russia and ex-Donbass billet offers for April shipments are being reported at $475-480/mt CFR versus $470-480/mt CFR seen at the end of last week. Some suppliers say they receive rare bids for small tonnages at $475/mt CFR. The SteelOrbis daily reference price for square billet to be shipped from the Black Sea has climbed from $440-450/mt to $445-450/mt FOB since the end of last week.
