The recent surge in steel prices in China, particularly for steel billet, has not resulted in import deals to Turkey at higher levels, but has supported the increase of workable prices in the Turkish domestic market. A little splash of demand for rebar due to some panic restocking has also provided a boost, but overall the sentiment in the rebar segment leaves much to be desired.
Today, July 24, integrated producer Kardemir announced new billet sales at $500/mt ex-works for S235JR and $510/mt ex-works for B420. The supplier managed to close sales in a couple of hours and to sell up to 75,000 mt. Early this month, Kardemir offered prices $15/mt lower, but it now clearly has a better sales situation. “Local billet is less risky. it is better to receive your cargo bit by bit every week than to wait for delivery in October-November,” a trader told SteelOrbis. In addition, Kardemir’s buyers, mainly located in the Karabuk region, do not have an option to deal for 40,000-50,000 mt cargoes from Asia.
In the Iskenderun region, billet offers are at $505-508/mt ex-works this week, up from $495-500/mt ex-works last week, while the indications for the Marmara region are at $500/mt ex-works and at $510/mt ex-works and up, according to market estimates.
Having restocked from Kardemir, Turkish billet buyers are expected to put pressure on ex-Russia and ex-Donbass offers for prompt cargoes, but it seems there is not much leverage to push for a much lower price. “Usually, the workable price from Russia is around $30-35/mt lower than Kardemir,” a source said. The latest import indications from Russia stood at around $465/mt CFR and above for July-August shipments, with the latest bids reported at $455/mt CFR. Currently, the workable level for this origin may increase to $460-465/mt CFR.
Chinese billet offers are at $490-495/mt CFR, while ex-Ukraine material is at $500-510/mt CFR for September shipments. No firm offers have been placed from Indonesia and Malaysia but the estimates are at $485-488/mt and $500-505/mt CFR, respectively.