Billet buyers in the Turkish market have been checking the most recent offers more actively, aiming to evaluate the market situation following the holiday in China. In the meantime, while various ex-Asia indications have been floating around but mostly with long lead times, there has been an active discussion of a sizeable import billet purchase from Russia at a quite low price level.
In Turkey, domestic prices for billet are estimated at $530-550/mt ex-works, in line with last week. The latest deals, aside from local producer Kardemir’s sales, according to sources, have been concluded in the Iskenderun region for less than 10,000 mt at slightly below $550/mt ex-works. Turkey’s own billet production costs from steel scrap are still at around $530/mt, but the price idea for import billet workable levels is lower than $490/mt CFR. “Last week, Kardemir [BF-based] sold with all discounts at around $505/mt ex-works and this will be delivered within one month, while the lead time for most import materials is much longer,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
The latest billet indications for Chinese billet, offered to Turkey by traders, are reported at $485-490/mt CFR, up $10/mt from the end of the last week. Sources report that the biggest barrier in working with China for billet now is the lead time, which has increased due to congestion at ports. “These days, exporters would like to have an extra 10-15 days for shipments in order to be on the safe side, which means the cargoes would be arriving in Turkey in early December and that is too late,” a source said. Indonesian billet, offered as well at around $485/mt CFR, also attracts low interest in Turkey since it is for end-of-November shipment.
However, an ex-Malaysia cargo which, according to market sources, has been on offer for end-of-October shipment at around $485-490/mt CFR, may gain acceptance in Turkey since it is the earliest available cargo of those currently offered.
No fresh offers have been heard from Ukraine since one of the suppliers there currently has a limited allocation. The most recent deals for Ukrainian billet to Turkey were closed at $500-505/mt CFR for October shipment.
There have been rumors about sizable sales of ex-Russia or ex-Donbass billets to Turkey recently. Initial rumors were at $463/mt CFR for 50,000 mt, but they have been denied by the main sellers of Russian materials. Later, some market sources said that for over 20,000 mt the price has been discussed at $473-475/mt CFR, so if the deal is done, this level is more reasonable. This price translates to around $455/mt on FOB Black Sea basis.
“This price is impossible to get from any seller for small October shipment volumes to Turkey’s Black Sea region,” a trader said, adding that the lowest possible from exporters would be at $480/mt CFR or $458-460/mt FOB. One of the Turkish mills has confirmed that the latest deal for a small volume was done at $480/mt CFR TBS late last week, while offers were at $485/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet has settled at $455-460/mt FOB Black Sea, slightly down by $2.5/mt on average since late last week.