In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Iranian origin billet remains the most affordable option for buyers from the UAE and Oman. In the meantime, Saudi Arabia, which has been lately focused on ex-Asia offers is not yet in the market at present, but may evaluate some options, also from the North African region.
Most customers from the UAE report ex-Iran billet is available at $490-495/mt CFR, while previously the price was at up to $500/mt CFR. Moreover, several re-rollers claimed they received offers for decent tonnages at as low as $470/mt CFR. The delivery cost on CPT basis is around $20-25/mt extra, sources say.
In the UAE domestic market, local billet prices are at $520-530/mt CPT from local producers, which is more or less in line with the levels in early November.
In Saudi Arabia, offers from Vietnam were last week at $525-527/mt CFR, while Indonesia and Malaysia were offering at around $530-535/mt CFR. This week, traders have been offering $530-538/mt CFR for billet from Indonesia and Vietnam. In addition, there is an expectation that one of the Saudi Arabian buyers may purchase from Algeria, which has significantly activated its export sales in recent weeks. In particular, Algerian Qatari Steel sold at least 150,000 mt to traders for various markets at $500-517/mt FOB. The recently offered producer’s price to Saudi Arabia is at $510-515/mt FOB with freight estimated at around $30-33/mt for a 30,000-40,000 mt cargo.
