Turkey’s Kardemir opened new billet sales in the domestic market on February 8, making an attempt to achieve a higher price. Kardemir has set its billet prices at $635/mt ex-works and $640/mt ex-works depending on the grade, up by $15/mt since late January.
However, billet buyers have not responded positively and no deals have been reported. Business activity is low and many market players are trying to assess the business consequences of the massive earthquakes seen on February 6.
In the import segment, business activity is minimal. “We have not been buying [from Russian mills] and not selling since late last week as all our vessels are busy until the first week of April,” one trader said. Last week, in addition to the earlier reported deal for 3,000 mt of ex-Russia billet at $600/mt CFR and negotiations at $605/mt CFR, another small lot has changed hands at $575-580/mt CFR, according to new information that has come to light this week. “All prices are from last week. This is not the right time to talk about prices now,” another source said, adding that all attention is now on the assessment of the consequences of the earthquakes which hit Turkey on Monday.