The positive trend in the Turkish billet market has strengthened this week with the support of higher scrap prices and the uptrend in the local rebar segment. Although local end-user demand for longs is far from being at the desired levels still and financial issues continue to weigh heavily on trade, some restocking has been seen for both longs and billet.
Turkey’s Kardemir has reopened its domestic billet sales, but has chosen to keep offer prices relatively stable since the previous round of sales. As the market has strengthened somewhat over the past two weeks, the mill has managed to close the sales with sizeable volumes quite easily. The supplier’s price for 150 mm x 150 mm B420 grade billet has been announced at $510/mt and $520/mt ex-works, while in early August Kardemir’s prices stood at $510/mt and $515/mt ex-works. According to sources, the producer has traded up to 105,000 mt of billet locally. It is worth mentioning that Kardemir was expected to increase its billet price, given the higher rising scrap and rebar price levels. However, the supplier’s attractive billet offer triggered sizeable demand in the end and helped diminish available stocks.
Foreign billet suppliers to Turkey have also been counting on higher Kardemir price levels. However, the volume of sales has also become a supportive factor for them. The workable import billet prices from Russia and the Donbass region are now considered to be well above $470-475/mt CFR, while the latest bids last week were reported at $460-465/mt CFR and then at up to $472/mt CFR. There has been talk about a 20,000 mt billet deal done at around $470/mt CFR Marmara.
Currently, the number of import billet offers seems limited as the suppliers are taking their time to evaluate the market. The general level is estimated at $475-480/mt CFR minimum for September shipments, while cargoes for immediate shipment are now on offer at $505/mt CFR, versus a $495/mt CFR sale at the end of last week.
As a result, the SteelOrbis daily reference price for ex-Russia billet has increased by $15/mt since the end of last week to $455-460/mt FOB Black Sea.
