Iranian billet trade has been silent for a while, taking into account the recent issue with the abolishment of the increase in the export taxes for steel and raw materials. In addition, the export markets for steel billet have been relatively quiet in most of the consuming regions and traders have been hesitant to book large volumes.
However, a recent sale for 30,000 mt of billet has been closed by Esfahan Steel Company (ESCO) at $475/mt FOB, $10/mt up from the previous transaction of early August. The cargo is said to be for 3sp modified billet grade, which might imply some price extras. Still, sources mainly believe the price has been too high in this deal, taking into account the lack of significant market improvement in the key consuming destinations.
The latest billet deal from a trader to Asia has been reported at $492/mt CFR for around 15,000 mt, with the freight evaluated by the sources at around $35-38/mt. The transaction has not been confirmed from the buyers’ side and some of the players have reported no indications from Iran to Asia at below $500/mt CFR.
In addition, there has been a talk about around 10,000 mt deal for ex-Iran billet origin at $463-465/mt FOB to Oman, while the latest offers to the UAE have been reported at around $485-490/mt CFR, $5/mt down over fortnight. The freight rate to the GCC countries from Iranian ports is estimated at around $20/mt.