Following a rather long period of silence, some billet export deals from Iran have finally been reported. Although the price upturn in major destinations is not yet strong and solid enough, the deals from Iran have been closed at slightly higher levels than previously. Such a situation points to traders taking positions due to their likely positive evaluations of future market developments.
According to sources, a large Iranian billet producer has lately closed its 30,000 mt billet tender at $490/mt FOB, versus $485/mt FOB in the previous sale. Moreover, some players state that, in addition to this cargo, two more lots of 20,000 mt each have been sold at the same price. The volumes are for August deliveries and the traders are expected to try selling them to traditional buyers in Asia and the GCC. However, the latest traders’ offers for Iranian origin billet have been reported at $520-525/mt CFR and, with $40-45/mt freight, such offers do not match the latest tender price. There is a similar situation in the GCC, where import offers from Iran are mainly at $510/mt CFR, with $20-25/mt estimated freight.
In Turkey, the import market will still be dominated by Russian origin for small lots and by Asian origins for large cargoes. Ex-Iran offers are at $530-535/mt CPT Iskenderun in Turkey, while the delivery cost is estimated at $50-65/mt.
