Turkish integrated steel producer Kardemir has opened square billet sales at $510-515/mt ex-works depending on the steel grade, which is down $15/mt compared to the previous price level. According to sources, the supplier has managed to sell at least 25,000 mt of billet to local customers, while some sources report 40,000 mt as the total volume. “Kardemir gives 90 days finance, which means the real price is closer to $495/mt ex-works,” a trader said. In this situation, the level of $510-520/mt ex-works is considered to be a realistic one for the other suppliers in the local Turkish market. In fact, there has been talk about medium-sized deals at the lower end of the range in the Iskenderun region. However, the latest billet prices in the Marmara region have been set at $530/mt CPT, with no deals reported.
This situation in the domestic market in Turkey has put additional pressure on the import segment, where prices are already close to bottom levels. The number of offers from Russia, Donbass and Belarus is limited in Turkey nowadays, partly due to the still active domestic longs market in Russia. In addition, some suppliers are expecting a certain price rebound in the second half of August and so are refraining from giving offers nowadays. Rare indications from traders are at $460-470/mt CFR for August shipments, versus again rare bids at $450-455/mt CFR. “I think this level may be accepted at some point by someone who needs to sell urgently,” a source told SteelOrbis.
The SteelOrbis daily reference price for ex-Russia has been settled at $430-435/mt FOB, down $5/mt over the past week, given lower tradable levels in Turkey, even though offers are still close to the previous contract levels.
Other import billet origins are hardly present in the current Turkish market since the workable levels are far from suppliers’ reality. The indications for ex-GCC billet have been reported at $530-540/mt CFR, while Indonesian material is offered at $510-515/mt FOB, with around $40-45/mt freight for large volumes.