The billet market in Turkey continues to move up in terms of local mills’ price policies, supported by higher production costs. Import scrap prices have hit $470/mt CFR in the most recent deal from Sweden and the energy situation also supports price rises for steel. Moreover, the new levels have already been accepted by some of the local billet buyers and the mills have further raised their official offers.
Early this week, an Iskenderun region-based mill sold around 30,000 mt of billet locally at $680/mt ex-works, up from $650-660/mt ex-works levels in offers seen last week. Moreover, subsequently the supplier managed to sell 22,000-23,000 mt of billet at $690/mt ex-works in fresh deals and set its new offer at $700/mt ex-works. Currently, the general range of prices for billet in Turkey is estimated at $680-700/mt ex-works, though the lower end may not be available in the coming days, SteelOrbis understands. Still, the rebar market situation is less promising as compared to the billet market since domestic prices are at $710-740/mt ex-works, while the rolling cost is at around $35/mt on average. “There is an appetite for billet because prices are increasing like crazy and buyers tend to believe that this time mills have good grounds to do this. If you do not buy today, tomorrow you will most probably have to pay higher,” a trader said.
Increasing billet prices in Turkey are opening good opportunities for CIS-based sellers, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. The bids may increase further if the uptrend in Turkey continues. Still, not many sellers are offering firmly to Turkey these days, preferring to evaluate the current situation, since there is an expectation for scrap prices to move up further. Some price indications have been reported at $680-700/mt CFR, while some have offered at even higher than these levels.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-CIS billet has surged by $40/mt today to $665-670/mt FOB, based on the prices assessed by large mills as tradable levels, following the surging of prices in Turkey and given the lack of supply.