Iranian steel producers have activated export billet sales recently and the international traders booked several position cargoes from them. However, taking into an account the weakening global billet market and low business activity in the longs segment, the Iranian suppliers could not achieve the initially targeted price levels.
According to sources, Esfahan Steel Company has closed a 30,000 mt billet tender at $483/mt FOB, which is $10/mt below the company’s previous sale. The cargo is for 150 mm billet size and for august shipment.
In addition, another two billet producers in Iran have reportedly sold a 25,000-30,000 mt billet cargo each at around $480/mt FOB for August shipments. However, the information has not been fully confirmed by the time of publication.
The traded cargoes will be most probably directed to the GCC region, where the level of around $510/mt CFR or slightly below might be quite workable. In Asia, the indications for ex-Iran billet are at $520/mt CFR and such a level is not accepted by the customers. In Turkey, the market players see no chance for ex-Iran billet cargoes to be sold with a profit, taking into account that the import price levels from Russia are heading to below $500/mt CFR. The freight from Iran to the GCC is around $20-25/mt, to Asia - $40-45/mt and to Turkey at $50-55/mt.