Will steel billet offers of CIS and Turkish mills decline further?

Early this week, ex-CIS 3SP-5SP steel billet offers via traders to Turkey declined to $670/mt CFR, as demand has remained sluggish in both domestic and export markets and also because buyers have focused more on steel billet offers of European mills, considering the advantageous €/$ exchange rate.
 
After this price drop, with its new price list dated September 28, 2011, Turkish steel producer Kardemir opened its sales for S235JR grade (St37) billets of 130 mm x 130 mm x 6-12 m size at the level of $675/mt ex-works, excluding VAT, and also opened its sales for MT III-A grade billets of the same size at the level of $680/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. Compared to the previous price list, the new billet prices decreased by $13/mt. However, these offers have failed to find much interest in the market. In the Turkish domestic market, local steel billet prices have settled at $660-675/mt ex-works on actual weight basis.
 
CIS producers' offers for 3SP-5SP steel billet to export markets have been at the price range of $640-650/mt FOB for late October and November shipments, although offers are few in number. This price range has indicated a decrease of $30/mt as compared to last week.
 
On the other hand, Turkish mills' mainstream steel billet export offers have been at $670-675/mt FOB, on actual weight basis for November shipments, decreasing by $15-20/mt as compared to last week in response to the decrease in ex-CIS steel billet offers. In the meantime, lower offers are also available in the market.
 
On the last day of the week, ex-CIS steel billet offers to Turkey now stand at $650-660/mt CFR on actual weight basis.
 
While the €/$ exchange rate continues to remain at about 1.35, European producers' steel billet export offers at €495-500/mt ($668-675/mt) have lost their competitiveness following declines seen in ex-Turkey and CIS billet offers. While buyers in Turkey state that they still find current steel billet prices as high and expect further softening, buyers in Turkey's export markets are waiting for prices to reach bottom before they start their purchases.