Turkey’s integrated mill Kardemir has successfully closed its domestic billet sales, which were opened earlier today, on October 22. The supplier managed to sell approximately 110,000 mt in over just a couple of hours. The initially announced prices for 150 mm x 150 mm billet were at TRY 2,247/mt ($385/mt) ex-works for S235JR grade billets and at TRY 2,277/mt ($390/mt) ex-works for MT III-A grade, excluding VAT.
The significant demand for Kardemir’s billet in the domestic market was backed by certain domestic shortages of billet seen within the past couple of weeks. In particular, according to foreign billet sellers, re-rollers in Turkey’s Karabuk region have been hungry for billet for prompt deliveries due to their low stocks. As a result, it is safe to say that the workable local billet price level has inched up in Turkey. Last week, domestic billet offers were mostly set at $380-385/mt ex-works, while rising to $390/mt ex-works from some mills. The local prices are excluding VAT.
$1 = TRY 5.84