Will revised CIS billet export offers gain acceptance?

Market sources inform SteelOrbis that CIS mills' billet export offers have been revised upwards by $10-15/mt over the past two weeks to $510-515/mt FOB. Ukrainian producer Metinvest recently announced that it will not be accepting new export offers for a while. After this announcement, concerns over possible billet supply shortages have emerged and CIS billet export offers have been adjusted upwards. Meanwhile, inquiries for import billet have started to be heard this week in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and so new CIS billet prices will likely gain acceptance by next week and activity will see a recovery.
 
On the other hand, Chinese billet export offers to the MENA region have remained aggressive, standing at $470-475/mt FOB, However, China's imposition of export duty of 25 percent for all steel products has limited the export activity of the country.