Following price rises in the scrap segment and with rebar export offers increasing by $20/mt, billet prices in Turkey have also moved up, though overall trading is still limited.
Today, October 10, Kardemir hiked its local billet prices by $20/mt compared to the previous levels two weeks ago, with its 150 mm billet price settling at $550/mt for S235JR material and at $575/mt for B420 grade, both on ex-works basis. Considering its discounts for cash payment and volumes above 2,500 mt and 5,000 mt, Kardemir’s actual price has been confirmed by market sources at $539.5/mt ex-works, versus $514.7/mt ex-works in the previous round of sales. As of 5 p.m. on October 10, Kardemir managed to sell over 18,000 mt of billets.
In the import billet segment, the indicative offers for billets from China were at around $520-525/mt CFR early this week with some $5-10/mt discounts possible at the moment after the recent decline in futures prices. Since the trend in the Chinese market has not settled yet, and there has been talk about at least one contract cancelation since late September, Turkish buyers are cautious as regards new purchases. Also, ex-ASEAN billet offers have been rare in Turkey, with the Indonesian mill sold out until mid-January shipment and with Malaysian sellers focusing on other products at the moment.
Ex-Ukraine billet offers for relatively close shipment dates have been voiced at $540/mt CFR, while the previous ex-Ukraine deal was done at $520/mt CFR, as reported a week ago.
Russian billet exporters have been evaluating the market situation. In the current conditions, Turkish buyers have been ready to pay around $500-505/mt CFR for ex-Russia material and $5/mt lower for ex-Donbass material, while the previous deals done at least two weeks ago were at $475-483/mt CFR. This new level translates to $475-480/mt FOB Black Sea, up by $5/mt over the past week. The FOB price level has increased at a slower pace amid increased freight rates for late November-December shipment.
There have been also reports that last week a major Russian mill sold wire rod-grade billets to Egypt at $515/mt CFR, which translates to $505/mt CFR for base grade. This level has been assessed as too low for the current market conditions, viewed as “speculative” by some market sources. They said that at the moment most firm offers would be at $480/mt FOB Black Sea or above.