Both domestic and import billet prices in Turkey have decreased under pressure from low demand for rebar and weaker import scrap price levels. Deals from the CIS remain sporadic and are being done for closer shipments.
Import offers from the CIS have decreased by some $5/mt over the past week to $380-385/mt CFR for August-September shipments, but the buyers’ price idea does not exceed $365-370/mt CFR. A 30,000 mt billet sale was closed to the Iskenderun region at $370/mt CFR by a trader, as SteelOrbis mentioned earlier. “Scrap costs less now and at the same time rebar demand locally has stopped as buyers restocked and construction is still not strong enough. So billet has to be lower,” a producer said.
Domestic offers have decreased by $10/mt over the past week to $390-400/mt ex-works. The lower end of the range is under discussion in the Iskenderun region. “Rebar sales are muted and prices are again closer to $415/mt in the spot market, and so billet should be at least $35/mt lower than that,” a trader stated, sharing his opinion.