According to market sources, Turkish producers’ domestic billet prices have decreased by $20/mt over the past week to $340-350/mt ex-works, excluding 18 percent VAT and for August shipment. Last week, Turkish steel producer Kardemir opened its billet sales at $350/mt ex-works and sold about 100,000 mt of billet in total. No billet sales have been heard in the Turkish market since then.
Meanwhile, Chinese billet offers to Turkey have increased by $5/mt on the lower end over the past week to $320-325/mt CFR, for September shipment. While Chinese billet offers have moved on a stable trend since the beginning of this week, no purchases have been made by Turkish buyers yet.