Southeast Asian customers have managed to buy ex-Iran billet at visibly lower prices than from traditional suppliers such as Russia and India. Though Iranian suppliers have been trying to keep prices stable after the large volumes they sold to China, they have failed to do so and have been forced to provide some discounts to Southeast Asian customers.
Two lots of Iranian billet of 80,000 mt in total have been sold to Southeast Asia at $385/mt CFR recently, SteelOrbis has been informed. The cargoes will include mostly 150 mm billet, but also some 130 mm billet. Southeast Asian customers received offers from Iran at about $390/mt CFR last week. Two weeks ago about 200,000 mt of ex-Iran billets was sold to China at $385-395/mt CFR.
At the moment, Iranian mills can discuss sales at $350/mt FOB and below.
“The market level for Iran-origin is $380-385/mt CFR,” a Jakarta-based customer said.