The billet market in Turkey has remained somewhat unclear in terms of pricing from Asia, and so some of the small buyers have preferred to restock with ex-Russia material with short lead times. Moreover, since import scrap prices in Turkey have moved down, the billet price indications from China and other Asian countries are not considered workable for now.
According to sources, at the end of last week a couple of small sales were closed from Russia to Turkey’s Black Sea region at around $510/mt CFR and up to $512/mt CFR at the highest, for prompt shipment mainly. This translates to $485/mt FOB Black Sea at the highest. For December shipment material, buyers’ price ideas were hardly above $500-505/mt CFR last week. This means that sellers have managed to increase prices in this round of sales, after the previous contracts at $475-483/mt CFR signed in the middle of September. However, the bullishness has again started to fade away this week. “But new tradable levels will be at around $495/mt CFR Turkish Black Sea [ for December shipment, which translates to $470/mt FOB], as there are no buyers in the market. The general sentiment is that the market is softening,” a Turkish mill said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia billet stands at $470-485/mt FOB today, given the latest deals and new tradable levels. The price range is stable on average from last week, though it has widened by $5/mt. There have been some rumors about a low offer of billet from Donbass, the Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russian troops, at $490/mt CFR, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. And at least one source close to the seller in the region said that the last offer from Donbass was at $480/mt FOB.
Asian billet prices, following the recent announcements in China, have been quite high and, considering the decreases in scrap prices, are not so workable for Turkish buyers. The lowest ex-China offers from traders, who are considered to be going short for January shipment, have been reported at $525-530/mt CFR, while the offers for December shipment are at $540/mt CFR and higher. Billet offers from Indonesia are vague since the suppler there seems to be sold out and they are evaluated at $530-540/mt CFR Turkey. Malaysian offers have been heard this week at $540-550/mt CFR for December shipment, while some bids have been reported at around $15-20/mt lower. “With scrap back to $375/mt CFR, we are again talking about Turkish mills’ costs at $530-540/mt, so these import prices do not make much sense unless the origins are duty free,” a trader told SteelOrbis.