This week, Turkey has seen some higher business activity in its local and import billet markets amid some necessity to restock and higher scrap prices. In addition, mills’ exports have been gradually becoming more feasible with some sales concluded.
An Iskenderun-based steel producer has sold a 10,000 mt billet cargo to Tunisia at $400/mt FOB for January shipment. Sources report that another 10,000 mt lot is currently under negotiation to the same destination. Currently, Turkey’s billet export offers are at around $405-410/mt FOB and above. “While the CIS is strong, Turkey is counting on winning some deals in North Africa as a shorter lead time may be provided,” a trader mentioned. Sources say that most Turkish mills can allocate medium-sized lots of billet for sale for shipment in the first half of January. Last week, around 20,000 mt were sold to a trader at $393/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has learned.
In the local market, integrated producer Kardemir has sold up to 90,000 mt of billet this week at $405-410/mt exx-works depending on the steel grade. Generally, domestic prices in Turkey are ranging within $410-425/mt ex-works and above, depending on the region. However, players do not foresee rebar re-rollers buying at far above $405-410/mt ex-works as rebar is priced at around $435/mt ex-works. However, merchant bar producers may consent to buy at higher levels.
Import offers have been rare this week and have mostly been reported at $410-420/mt CFR, by both mills and traders, up $5-10/mt over the past week. Buyers seem to be ready to pay $395-400/mt CFR; starting from the end of last week around 20,000 mt of December shipment billet was sold in small parcels within the mentioned range.