Turkish integrated steelmaker Kardemir has revised its domestic billet prices downwards, while its offer prices have attracted strong from buyers, who have needed to restock, while buyers have also evaluated the mill’s offers as being at acceptable levels versus current import prices. As a result, most local buyers have booked larger-than-usual lots from Kardemir, and so demand for overseas material may be slower in the near future. Meanwhile, some buyers in the Karabuk region may still find billet from Russia and Donbass attractive due to the low prices of this material.
Kardemir decreased its billet prices by $5-10/mt to $530/mt for S235JR and $540/mt ex-works for B420 grade. Within a short time after the announcement, the producer succeeded in selling 98,700 mt of billet and then closed its sales. “The announced price was good for the buyers and yet it didn’t reflect a massive discount from Kardemir. Almost everyone from the regular buyers booked 10,000 mt and above,” a trading source told SteelOrbis.
In the Iskenderun region, according to sources, billet indications have still been voiced at around $555-560/mt ex-works, and slightly higher for quick deliveries, with no fresh deals reported. In the Izmir area, the latest indication remained at $580/mt ex-works and above, in line with the latest export sales to the EU. Local Turkish rebar prices are realistically at $590-610/mt ex-works depending on the region, with demand being moderate but still considered to be a bit on the slow side for the time of the year.
Import billet offers from China inched up early this week to $540/mt CFR for early July shipments, up from $535-537/mt CFR at the end of last week. Currently, the level is evaluated at $530-540/mt CFR, while the number of buyers in the market is quite limited. There have been some rumors about a deal at $525/mt CFR Izmir, but it has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
No fresh offers have been reported from Malaysia, while Indonesia is now offering September billet shipments, most probably being focused on sales to Asia and the GCC regions. Ukraine’s indication has remained at $580/mt CFR for June-July shipments, considering its limited allocation due to sales to Europe and expected maintenance works.
While Asian billet, being mainly represented by China at present, is offered at quite high levels, especially compared to Kardemir’s local sales, billet offers from Russia and Donbass may be considered workable. Some buyers report that Russian and Donbass-based sellers are not actively in the market these days, but the price idea for small tonnages is still at around $510-515/mt CFR, while the large supplier has indicated its targets at $515-520/mt CFR, but with no firm offers. The SteelOrbis daily reference price for ex-Russia billet to be shipped from the Black Sea are stable for now at $480-485/mt FOB, for shipments mainly in June.