Having experienced electricity outages and a consequent idling of production during the summer, Iran-based producers of steel billet have gradually started to return to the export markets, though not all are offering fresh material so far. Having launched production, some of the Iranian suppliers are primarily forced to fulfill commitments due to delayed orders.
Specifically, SteelOrbis has learned of a few ex-Iran billet tenders closed recently. Specifically, one lot of ex-Iran steel billet has been traded at $617/mt FOB BIK, while another Iran-based supplier has succeeded in selling 20,000 mt of steel billet at an even higher price, at $625/mt FOB BIK. The destinations have not been confirmed yet, but the material is expected to be shipped to China, with the business environment there having slightly improved recently. The abovementioned bookings may provide definitive proof of improved sentiments in the market. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, last week the FOB price for ex-Iran steel billet was hardly higher than $610/mt FOB BIK.