Some billet buyers in the GCC region, particularly from the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia have been aiming to evaluate import options. However, taking into account a slight strengthening of Chinese offers over the past week, some of them have preferred to restock with billet from Oman, considering also the shorter lead time compared to January shipments from Asia. In Saudi Arabia, however, some buyers are expected to enter negotiations for large volumes from China shortly.
Import offers for billet from China in the region have been reported at $457-459/mt CFR to the UAE, and at around $460-463/mt CFR to Saudi Arabia, all for January shipments. Buyers of 40,000-50,000 mt lots are still aiming at below $455/mt CFR which seems hard to achieve at present. The latest deal for 55,000 mt from China was traded around two weeks ago to Saudi Arabia at $453/mt CFR, SteelOrbis reported.
Billet offers from Iran are at $415-417/mt FOB at the highest for new cargoes, while, according to sources, a ready lot of 30,000 mt of Iranian billet is available from Bandar Abbas at $408/mt FOB. Such a level corresponds to around $435/mt CPT in the UAE and Oman. However, the supplier is expected to target sales to Asia, which would make around $445/mt CFR, SteelOrbis estimates. “UAE mills will not buy due to ECAS [Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme], maybe they will direct the material to one of the Asian buyers,” a regional source told SteelOrbis.
Moreover, billet buyers in the GCC have preferred to book semis from local suppliers. In fact, an Omani mill has recently traded a total of 30,000 mt of billet to Oman and to the UAE at $480-485/mt CPT, down $5/mt week on week.
In Saudi Arabia, the local billet prices are at SAR 1,780/mt CPT or $474/mt CPT based on $1 = SAR 3.75. As a result, the offer levels have decreased by around $6/mt (SAR 20/mt) over the past week.
