Following certain gains in scrap deal prices in Turkey, Iranian steel billet exporters have remained bullish in their offerings. Moreover, the efforts of some Iranian billet suppliers to get higher prices in tenders have continued to yield certain results. However, some traders consider that sentiments have remained too “fragile” to expect any sustainability of the upward trend. "The situation is better now, but remains shaky. A huge tonnage has been sold at $440/mt FOB, so it takes time for new inquiries to come around,” a market source stated. “The workable FOB prices for Iran are hardly above $430-440/mt FOB, though the sellers are certainly targeting higher levels,” a trader said.
Nevertheless, SteelOrbis has confirmed a sale of a 20,000-30,000 mt cargo of ex-Iran steel billet at $456/mt FOB. The price is $16/mt higher than the levels in widespread transactions last week. The destination of the deal in question has remained undisclosed by the time of publication. As SteelOrbis reported last week, besides steel billet sales at $440/mt FOB, a major Iranian steel exporter has managed to sell a 30,000 mt cargo of steel bloom of 200 mm size at $470/mt FOB, reportedly to Indonesia. The additional costs for the end-customer may be not below $60-65/mt.