Following the recent deals in Turkey at prices as high as $388/mt CFR for ex-US HMS I/II (80:20) scrap emerged in the market yesterday, November 20, sentiment in the import billet segment has also improved significantly.
A deal for 10,000 mt of ex-Donbass billet is reported to have been done to Turkey at $525/mt CFR for end-of-December shipment, translating to just slightly below $500/mt FOB. This means the tradable levels for billet in Turkey have added $5-10/mt since last week. Usually, ex-Donbass billet represents the lowest price level in Turkey.
Also, a small tonnage of 1,500 mt of prompt-shipment ex-Russia billet has been traded at $531/mt CFR Aliaga.
Nevertheless, in general the offered volumes from Russia and Donbass are still limited. One Russian mill has returned to the export market, offering 10,000 mt at $500/mt FOB for December, but there has been no information regarding whether the lot has finally been sold.
Russian suppliers are also targeting higher prices in Egypt, but they have not been accepted yet. Offers for December shipments are at $540/mt CFR at the moment. But some traders may still offer at $525/mt CFR for unknown origins, though most believe that this is ex-Donbass or ex-Russia billet purchased by the trader earlier. “Egyptian customers don’t have a problem buying Russian billet, but the problem is an issue of payment and price. They want to get $520/mt CFR, which is impossible,” a trader said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has increased by $5/mt to $495-500/mt FOB Black Sea.
Moreover, Turkish billet buyers have been more interested in purchasing billet of non-toxic origin. A deal for ex-Algeria billet has been signed at $535/mt CFR Aliaga, while new offers have already been reported at as high as $550/mt CFR on Tuesday, November 21.
Also, Ukraine has been testing the Turkish market with offers at $540/mt CFR, which is up by $10/mt from the previous ex-Ukraine deal.
Ex-Asia billet offers are still not workable for Turkey as, even taking into account the latest sales of from an Indonesian mill to traders at $512-513/mt FOB, this level translates to $547-548/mt CFR. Official offers from the ASEAN mills are at $520-525/mt FOB, while China is offering at $525-530/mt FOB.