As expected, Turkish mills have been trying to take advantage of the booming billet demand in China seen in the past two weeks. In the meantime, some business has also been seen in the local market in Turkey, while imports have been almost non-existent.
Turkish mills have been trying to sell billet to China, where the latest workable prices are at $710/mt CFR maximum, with freight estimated at $90/mt. Despite all the rumors regarding sales of 100,000 mt of billet from Turkey to China, they have been disproved by SteelOrbis sources. Instead, it seems, some Turkish mills have decided to take advantage of the CIS-based suppliers’ lower presence in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea regions. According to sources, a medium-sized lot has been sold to Morocco at $623/mt FOB. Another deal at $628/mt FOB has also been discussed in the market, with no definite information about the destination disclosed.
In the local Turkish market, no significant activity has been seen after Kardemir traded 40,000 mt at $623-628/mt ex-works depending on the steel grade which was reported last week. Domestic billet prices have remained at $620-625/mt ex-works, with not many negotiations going on. However, some sources expect negotiations to become livelier in the coming week, taking into account the spreading rumors regarding the limited allocation of billet from Russia specifically.
In the import billet segment in Turkey, trade is almost absent, partly because the large suppliers are more interested in higher prices from China, while the small ones are reluctant to accept low bids from Turkey. According to sources, some customers, based in the Black Sea area, have been bidding at $605/mt CFR, while some buyers from the Izmir region may still pay $610-615/mt CFR. The offers for ex-CIS billet, which are mainly coming from traders nowadays, have moved down to $610-620/mt CFR Turkey. In the meantime, large CIS-based producers are targeting $600-610/mt FOB minimum in their sales to China.