It is observed that tight supply has still been contributing to the price increases seen in the local Turkish
billet market, while domestic
billet prices in
Turkey have increased by an average of $5/mt week on week to $430-440/mt ex-works. Market sources state that, although Turkish buyers are facing difficulties in procuring
billet supplies in their domestic market, they also consider current price levels to be on the high side and so they are mostly maintaining a wait-and-see stance.
Meanwhile, ex-CIS
billet offers to
Turkey have increased by $5/mt on the upper end during the past week to $410-430/mt CFR. While there is mostly no advantage for Turkish buyers in terms of delivery times, they still continue to make price inquiries for ex-CIS
billet due to the tight supply problem in their domestic market. On the other hand, Turkish buyers are also cautious as regards concluding new deals for ex-CIS
billet within the scope of
Turkey's inward processing regime (under this scheme mills have to give a commitment to export the finished products they produce from imported
billet) as their finished steel export sales are very tepid.
Although Chinese
billet offers to
Turkey have increased by an average of $12.5/mt week on week to $415-420/mt FOB, they are seen to be $5/mt lower compared to the Chinese
billet offers recorded yesterday, May 23. Chinese
billet suppliers had for a long time failed to provide competitive prices for Turkish buyers compared to ex-CIS
billet offers, and currently Turkish buyers still consider Chinese
billet quotations to be unattractive. As a result, demand for Chinese
billet in
Turkey is not expected to increase in the short term.