Turkey has been rather active in the billet business since the end of last week with deals fixed in all the three market segments. Local buyers have booked good volumes domestically and from the CIS, aiming to restock amid limited allocation despite the pressure coming from the rebar segment. In the meantime, the latest export billet sales have been closed to Latin America and, prior to that, to China.
In the domestic market, an Iskenderun region-based mill has traded around 15,000 mt of billet at $725/mt ex-works. In the Marmara region, an 18,000 mt sale has been closed at $725/mt ex-works as well, while in the Izmir area at least 20,000 mt have been traded at $735/mt ex-works, as SteelOrbis reported. In the Karabuk region, buyers are waiting for Kardemir to announce its price, while one of the suppliers has been offering at $725-730/mt ex-works. Last week, the prices were at $700-710/mt ex-works from most local sellers.
Billet imports have been activated as well with small lots being booked by traders at $700-705/mt CFR Bartin and $715/mt CFR Izmir. In addition, a 10,000 mt lot was booked again to the Izmir region at $723/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. In the meantime, offers are mainly coming at $725-730/mt CFR, but the buyers are cautious nowadays. “These traders’ low-priced deals [$700-715/mt CFR] mess up the market since today buyers are pushing for similar levels,” a trader said. Another reason is the fresh 15,000-20,000 mt sale by a non-regular Russia-based mill to a trader, supposedly for the Turkish market, which was done at $680/mt FOB. “People estimate it as $700/mt CFR or around that, but in fact it is not yet known if it was a back-to-back sale or if it is a position cargo to be sold God knows when and at what price,” a source told SteelOrbis.
Overall, sentiments are mixed in Turkey since there is pressure coming from the falling Chinese market and low domestic rebar offers in Turkey itself. However, scrap keeps climbing and the export rebar levels from the Turkish mills have hit $800/mt FOB.
As regards exports, two 30,000 mt lots were sold to Latin America at $733-735/mt FOB. In addition, a 50,000 mt cargo has been rumored as sold to China at $700/mt FOB, but most sources believe that it must have been traded before the downturn in China gained pace.