Billet prices have increased in Turkey since before the end-of Ramadan holiday, though mainly driven by the scrap segment uptrend and the limited semis allocation. In the meantime, the signals coming from China have switched to negative lately but have not yet severely impacted the mood as regards ex-CIS and ex-Turkey offers.
According to sources, there are few local billet offers heard in the Turkish market as most mills seem to be sold out until at least late July. One supplier in the Karabuk area is reported to be in the market with $725-730/mt ex-works indications, while in the Izmir region one of the mills has sold a 20,000 mt lot at $735/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis has learned. “There is no billet for close deliveries and even for the first half of July. If all is shipped to China, at the end of the day the supply will be tight,” a trader said. Before the holiday, the workable price level for billet in most regions of Turkey stood at $700-710/mt ex-works.
Similar levels were seen in the import segment last week with offers coming mainly from small suppliers while the large mills preferred to follow China. However, taking into account higher scrap prices and the limited billet supply in Turkey the import offers have moved up to $725-735/mt CFR from some sellers. Moreover, since there has been a certain downtrend in China, such levels may not be considered unattractive by the large CIS-based mills for now, SteelOrbis understands.