The price rally continues in the Turkish billet market and new deals have been closed with some significant price increases over just a couple of days. Market players seem to be positive regarding the further trend of prices, but a lot of them are questioning the logic of the mills who have accepted to pay higher prices, taking into account that rebar price levels are not so far away from billet prices.
In the Iskenderun region, a billet seller has achieved $10/mt higher deal prices over just two days and has sold a total of 25,000 mt at $560/mt ex-works. The new offers are reported $5-10/mt higher than that. In the Karabuk area, a 5,000 mt lot has been traded recently at $555/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis has learned.
The import billet price level has shifted by $10-15/mt upwards since earlier this week to $545-550/mt CFR for February shipments. Some traders report they have received $545/mt CFR bids from the Iskenderun region. In addition, a deal for a medium-sized lot has been reported at $550/mt CFR Izmir as being done yesterday, December 9.
Moreover, Turkey remains interested in billet from alternative sources. Another 50,000 mt has been recently booked from Qatar at around $550/mt CFR, $40/mt up from the deal level last week, SteelOrbis has learned.