Iran-based producers of steel billet have remained inactive in offerings to export destinations, remaining strongly under pressure from the power outage crisis in the country, which worsened in August. “We have just recently started production at half capacity. However, we had a postponed commitment for 20,000 mt of steel billet and now we are producing that one order without voicing any new offers to the market,” a representative of an Iran-based steel mill stated.
Taking into account the current developments in the major export destinations (China and Asia) and the latest bookings there at $675/mt CFR, the FOB price for ex-Iran steel billet is assessed to be hardly higher than $610/mt FOB BIK, including special terms of payments. Within the current week, offers of ex-Iran steel billet have been heard in Thailand from traders at $675/mt CFR, with no deals reported so far.
Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities have issued a decree according to which 21 companies are not sanctioned to export steel billet. “Most of the companies mentioned in the decree are small, excluding Arfa Iron & Steel and South Kaveh. Hence, I do not expect any significant impact on export activity from Iran from this side,” the source stated.