Another import billet price increase has been seen in the Turkish market, still supported by higher freight rates, fears of shipment delays or disruptions from Asia, and overall high risks in dealing for new sizeable lots. In addition, local Turkish rebar prices have been pulled up once again over the past week, while import scrap prices have remained largely stable. As a result, for now it is safe to say that the uptrend is more driven by freight trends and expectations, rather than by solid and healthy demand.
Over the past week, the domestic rebar prices in Turkey have increased by around $15/mt to $560-580/mt ex-works depending on the region. Some sources believe $3-5/mt discounts are possible in the Iskenderun and Izmir regions, while some of the Marmara-based mills have started voicing $585/mt ex-works for rebar. The demand, however, is still not supportive and buyers prefer to restock only according to their daily requirements. The domestic billet prices have been reported at $510-520/mt ex-works Iskenderun and $515/mt ex-works Izmir, while Kardemir traded around 80,000 mt of billet this week at $505/mt and $515/mt ex-works depending on the grade.
The latest billet indications from China have been voiced at $515/mt CFR, while earlier this week the prices varied at $495-510/mt CFR. The cargoes are available for May shipments. Sources estimate freight rate from China at around $50-55/mt for now.
Offers for billet from Malaysia for the same lead time have increased by $5-10/mt to $515/mt CFR from one international trader, while the latest offers from Indonesia have been set at $485/mt FOB or over $530/mt CFR. Some of the sources have reported a deal at $470/mt FOB from Indonesia, which is around $520/mt CFR. “It is not entirely impossible, but it is more logical to buy duty-free from Malaysia. Maybe it is a trader’s position,” a source commented to SteelOrbis.
While ex-Asia billet offers have been on the higher side and are considered risky business, many were expecting higher interest in semis from the Black Sea/Azov Sea, particularly from Russia. The offers this week stood at $470-480/mt CFR, up from around $465/mt CFR last week, for April shipments. Sources have reported a sale from one of the main mills at $450-455/mt FOB or around $475-480/mt CFR Turkey, but the information was not confirmed by the time of publication. In fact, many in the market believe the report is false, even though the level is quite workable according to the domestic billet price range in Turkey. The SteelOrbis daily reference price for ex-Russia billet has increased by $5/mt over the past week to $440-450/mt FOB.
While offers from Iran for new shipments have been mainly absent from the market due to the ongoing war, some sources have reported an indication at $485/mt CFR Iskenderun region for a cargo currently on the water.
