Turkish billet export prices far exceed ex-CIS offer levels

Scrap suppliers in the US are not giving any offers to Turkey at the moment and this has resulted in increases in ex-Europe and ex-Black Sea scrap prices, while Turkish steel producers believe that scrap prices will move up further in the coming days. Against this background, ex-Turkey billet offers have been revised upward by $25-30/mt since last week and are currently standing at $550-565/mt FOB.
 
Even though it is difficult for Turkish mills' billet export offers to attract much interest at their current high levels in the export markets, the mills' increased billet prices in the Turkish domestic market have gained acceptance amid the recent revival in the local finished steel market.
 
On the other hand, European buyers prefer to purchase ex-CIS billet, as they find Turkish origin billet offers too high. At the moment ex-CIS billet offers, which are standing at $510-515/mt FOB, are more attractive than Turkish billet export offers. Meanwhile, in the belief that Turkish billet offers are far above current market prices, European buyers find ex-CIS billet prices more reasonable and prefer to purchase billet from this region.