Following the increases seen in import billet trading to Turkey last week, more deals for sizable lots have been disclosed recently, with prices at stable levels. The limited allocation in the billet segment and the lack of declines in scrap prices have contributed to this situation.
A contract for 50,000-55,000 mt of ex-Malaysia billet has been sold at $530-532/mt CFR Izmir for prompt shipment. The previous sales for ex-Algeria billet, 35,000-37,000 mt, and another 20,000 mt of ex-Asia material were at $530-534/mt CFR, signaling that the market is unchanged in terms of prices.
In addition, small lots of ex-Russia billet for a total of 16,000 mt have been sold at $525-526/mt CFR for prompt shipment. The previous deals for ex-Donbass and ex-Belarus billets were done at $515-520/mt CFR, for July shipment mainly. Demand in Turkey may slow down somewhat after these, though buyers of smaller volumes may still be interested in purchases, focusing on ex-Russia material.
Offers for ex-Indonesia and ex-Vietnam billet for late July-August shipment have been assessed at up to $540/mt CFR to Turkey. Though Chinese billet prices have become more competitive lately and cheap offers for ex-China billets have already emerged in Asia, there have been no reports of low-priced offers to Turkey.