This week has been silent in terms of Russian billet export activity amid quiet conditions in Turkey and some hopes that prices will bottom up next week following the recent rises in the scrap segment.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has settled at $430/mt FOB Black Sea, versus $420-430/mt FOB seen in deals last week.
A number of active exporters have withdrawn offers this week. “We are not in the market at the moment as we are sold out. However, for March shipment, I believe it will be possible to achieve $450-455/mt CFR in Turkey,” a trader said. This level translates to $430/mt FOB or just slightly above. Last week, deals for billet from Donbass, the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, were done at $435-440/mt CFR. “There is no supply this week [from Russia or Donbass], so the market is silent,” a Turkish mill said.
Though scrap has jumped to $349/mt CFR in the latest ex-US deal, in the billet segment there have been no fixed prices as Asian billet sellers have also been absent due to the Chinese New Year holiday. There has been a rumor that one more cargo of ex-Malaysia billet has been sold to Turkey, but this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication. The previous ex-Malaysia deal, for 44,000 mt, was concluded to Izmir at $470-475/mt CFR. Market sources believe that ASEAN sellers will target $475-480/mt CFR minimum after the holiday.
