CIS billet prices continued their rapid increase this week. Producers have started to give offers at the level of $580/mt FOB for late February. It is heard that there are some offers above the level in question. In particular, it seems that the hunger of the Far East and Southeast Asia for billet has not decreased. When we add to this the activity seen in the Mediterranean and Middle East rebar markets, the market situation desired by the producers appears to have been established.
In the Turkish domestic market, with Isdemir's sale of around 80,000 mt at the price level of $590/mt, the level of $600/mt has been started to be mentioned this week. Despite the fact that rolling mills are abstaining from the current high billet prices, longs prices have been providing support for billet. In the export market, offers are at the level of $600-610/mt FOB. The increasing CIS prices may help push up the Turkish offers as well.
The prices in the Italian domestic billet market are still at considerably low levels even though there is some activity in the billet prices. Billet prices for rebar production in the local Italian market are currently at around €390-400/mt ($561-576/mt) delivered to rolling mill in northern Italy. In spite of the upward movement, the prices in the domestic billet market are not yet high enough for the market to accept imports from Turkey or the CIS.
The Turkish and CIS billets have long been breaking new records in terms of price levels. Billet demand is quite strong in the Southeast Asian, Far East and Middle East markets. Buyers in the Far East and Southeast Asia have been demanding CIS origin billet in particular since China, the buyers' traditional supplier, has been out of the market. This situation favors the price increase trend. The billet demand in the Middle East seems strong; however, most of the mills in the region are worried about sudden price increases. For this reason, they are trying to appear unwilling to make purchases. If the expected increase takes place in the European and the US longs markets after New Year's Day and if the rumored additional export duties in China become reality, then new records should be seen in billet prices.