Turkey’s import billet prices have continued softening, driven by aggressive ex-China pricing and lower workable levels. Still, there are buyers in the market and some deals for large lots are expected to be closed in the near term. In the meantime, some small customers have restocked with ex-Black Sea billet, having chosen the advantage of prompt shipments and the possibility of buying limited tonnages.
Ex-China billet offers for September shipments have at the latest been reported at $500/mt CFR, versus $505-510/mt CFR earlier this week. Moreover, some sources state there are indications at $490-498/mt CFR, most probably for short positions. Some expect Turkish mills to find such levels acceptable and, although large tonnages were booked previously from China, billet imports are quite a bit cheaper compared to captive billet production, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. In addition, there has been talk in the market regarding a billet sale from Malaysia at $505/mt CFR, but the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication and officially ASEAN mills are trying to keep prices at $470-480/mt FOB, which is $510-515/mt on CFR basis.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet stands at $475-485/mt FOB Black Sea, slipping by $7.5/mt on average from the previous day and down $10/mt over the past week. A few small deals for 3,000 mt each are heard to have been done by a trader at close to $500-505/mt CFR, translating to a maximum of $480/mt FOB. Before that, two deals for 5,000 mt each were rumored to have been sold at $505/mt CFR, but the seller has not confirmed this by the time of publication. Last week, there were reports of an ex-Donbass sale at $508/mt CFR, while ex-Belarus and ex-Russia trades were at $513-515/mt CFR. “Now, I think that from the CIS only Metalloinvest may try to compete with China [in Turkey],” one source said, though a few other market participants said that at the moment the offer volumes from Russia are reduced, with the Russian sellers assessing the current situation.
On July 25, Turkish integrated steelmaker Kardemir opened its domestic billet sales, with its prices stable week on week at $540/mt ex-works for S235JR grade and $555/mt ex-works for B420 grade. The offers are for deferred payment. “The list price is $540/mt but, with discounts for tonnages over 5,000 mt and cash payment, the price is $524.7/mt ex-works,” a market player told SteelOrbis. According to sources, the producer has managed to trade up to 20,000 mt of billet, while its sales are still open. In other regions of Turkey, the local billet price ranges at $550-560/mt ex-works, mainly due to limited availability.