Turkish mills are not inclined to actively restock with billet since import scrap prices are weak and the lead times for most import billet materials are rather long. In addition, domestic longs demand has continued to soften, while exports have been sluggish for a while now. Moreover, this week Turkish longs offer prices have fallen by $10/mt, contributing to the negative sentiment towards billet imports.
Currently, ex-China billet offers for December shipment are at around $515/mt CFR Turkey, up $5-10/mt over the past week, while most Turkish billet buyers evaluate the workable prices as being below $500/mt CFR. Billet indications from Malaysia have been reported at $525-530/mt CFR depending on the size, while indications from Ukraine for January shipment have been reported by a few buyers at around the same price range. In addition, ex-Vietnam billet has been offered to Turkey at $525/mt CFR for January shipment, with no interest seen yet. Indonesia seems to be out of the market due to its long lead times. “Currently, China and Malaysia are too long to wait for and now since a lot of factors are unpredictable no one is brave enough to buy. And Indonesia should be for February shipment,” a trading source told SteelOrbis.
The number of offers from Russia has been scarce due to low availability and general slow buying. According to sources, a large Russian mill has been ready to sell a sizeable billet lot at $490/mt CFR, versus initial offers which were $10-15/mt higher, but there have been no confirmed deals by the time of publication. Moreover, some sources assume the workable billet price from Russia for a normal lead time should be closer to $480/mt CFR, especially for sanctioned suppliers. In the meantime, billet with short lead times, from Russia and Donbass, is still priced at $490-495/mt CFR. In the previous week, a small lot was sold to the Karabuk region at $494/mt CFR, sources said. The SteelOrbis daily reference price for ex-Russia billet to be shipped from the Black Sea is stable for now at $465-470/mt FOB. Although buyers insist on a discount of at least $5/mt, there have been no signs yet of mills agreeing to this.
