Turkey’s billet market has remained quite firm, owing to strong scrap prices and the acceptable demand and pricing for rebar. Moreover, some suppliers, including Russian suppliers, have resumed attempts to increase their offers, while the price indications for non-toxic billet origins, which were considered overpriced earlier, seem to have started to gain acceptance in Turkey.
After a long pause, Asian billets are once again in demand in Turkey. 30,000 mt of ex-Malaysia billet have lately been sold at $565/mt CFR Turkey or a few dollars. “Considering it is under a free trade agreement, and other origins [like Saudi Arabia and Algeria] are offered to the market at around $560/mt CFR, I think someone can buy duty-free billets at $565-567/mt CFR as they [buyers] don’t have to use an import license,” a Turkish trader said. Also, a deal for ex-Indonesia material has also been rumored to Turkey at a similar level, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication, and some sources said that for billet which is not duty-free the tradable level should be at least $5/mt lower. Last week, offers from Asia to Turkey were at $565-570/mt CFR, so the interest of Turkish buyers in Asian materials comes amid the absence of much cheaper options and high local prices, not a drop in prices by Asian mills, which have been moving in the opposite direction and have been increasing their offers further.
In addition, as mentioned earlier, some traders have been offering ex-Saudi Arabia billet at around $560/mt CFR for February shipment since the end of last week. Moreover, some sources report that there has been a booking at $555-558/mt CFR, but it has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Algerian billet has been offered mainly at $560-563/mt CFR, with some of buyers’ price ideas voiced at $10/mt lower.
Ex-Black Sea billet offers have been scarce at around $545-555/mt CFR Turkey at the lowest depending on the region, which translate to $520-525/mt FOB. At least one mill has hiked offers to $565-570/mt CFR, as it is out of the actual market picture. The reference price for ex-Black Sea billet on FOB basis has been increased to $515-520/mt FOB, up by $3/mt since Friday.
In the domestic market in Turkey, the workable level for billet is estimated at $580-585/mt ex-works, following last week’s sales by Kardemir. However, offers are being reported at close to $590-595/mt ex-works.
