Another upward revision of billet prices by Turkish producers has been witnessed this week, following the strengthening of scrap prices.
Turkish producers' offers for June delivery exports have continued to increase, with offer levels reaching $660-665/mt FOB lately. Buyers in the Middle East, who booked at $630/mt FOB only two weeks ago, are approaching the new higher levels with caution for the moment.
Local Turkish mill Kardemir has announced its new price list, increasing its billet price level by $52/mt and opening its billet sales. Accordingly, the price of 130 mm x 130 mm x 6-12 m size billets of S235SJR grade (St37) has reached $650/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. MT III-A grade billets of the same sizes are priced at $655/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. Kardemir has so far sold 7,000 mt of billet at these levels. In the domestic market of Turkey, billet supply is low and price levels are at around $655-660/mt ex-works on actual basis, as SteelOrbis has learned.
In the CIS billet market, offers by traders have followed suit and increased this week, upon the rise of Turkish billet prices. Some CIS producers are fully booked for May production and are trying to avoid giving offers for June production. Billet export offers by CIS traders are at around $635-645/mt FOB for June shipments, and the market expects to hear new offers above this range shortly. Billets offered from the CIS to Turkey stand at $655-665/mt CFR.
Prices in the billet market are continuing their uptrend but buyers are unsure whether to book or not for the time being. It will become clearer next week whether the new price levels for billets will find acceptance in the market.