The mood in the import billet market in Turkey has improved lately amid the better situation in the rebar market, less local supply, and the significant rebound in the Chinese market today, September 24. Turkish buyers have been interested in negotiating for ex-Malaysia billets lately as it is duty-free and its prices have been relatively stable, at least so far.
According to market sources, one Turkish mill bought a sizable cargo of ex-Malaysia billet at $490/mt CFR late last week, while the previous offers were almost similar, at $485-490/mt CFR. Though initially it was claimed to be Chinese material, a number of sources confirmed that this price is too high for Turkish buyers to accept for Chinese or even Indonesian billets for now, and only Malaysian material could be in question, with no need to pay duty. Also, one Malaysian mill is heard to have sold 50,000 mt of billet for December shipment to a trader in a long position for Turkey, and, even though some sources said that it has already been finally sold to a Turkish buyer, this could not be confirmed by the time of publication.
Offers for ex-China billet have been withdrawn today after the sharp increase in spot and futures prices in China. Considering the current FOB prices, the new offers from China would not be below $485-490/mt CFR Turkey. “It seems that China will not attract the interest of Turkish buyers in the near future. All will focus on Malaysia,” a trader said.
Though there have been no new contracts confirmed for ex-Indonesia billet to Turkey, some volumes were sold by the main Indonesian mill to traders for December shipment and could be offered to end-users at not below $485/mt CFR. Major Turkish buyers, who were bidding at $460/mt CFR last week, may accept up to $470/mt CFR in the current conditions, though at the moment there are no such low offers in the market for any origin.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has increased slightly, by $2.5/mt on average since last week to $460/mt FOB Black Sea. Offers for Russian material for small volumes for late October-November shipment are at $480-485/mt CFR Turkey, translating to $460/mt on FOB basis, but there have been no new deals announced after a sizable volume of 50,000 mt changed hands at $470-475/mt CFR a week ago.
In the local market in Turkey, the general price range is still at $530-550/mt ex-works, but some improvement in the market mood has been seen. A deal for 10,000 mt of billet from the Marmara region has been done to another Turkish mill at $550/mt FOB due to the need of the latter after the recent stoppage of its melt shop. According to sources, the mill will need from one week to one and a half months to resume production after recent inspections, so “that’s why the Turkish rebar market is so excited in terms of prices [amid a lack of rebar supply],” a local source said.
