Import billet deals remain rare in Turkey

Turkey’s billet buyers still refrain from active billet imports as steelmakers continue to give preference to scrap purchases. Some re-rolling companies are in the market but semis sellers intend to keep their price positions firm and refrain from sizeable discounts. As a result, billet deals remain occasional and negotiations are rather rare.

Import offers for CIS billet are heard this week closer to $410-415/t CFR for shipments in July, some medium-sized deals were reported at $408/t CFR this week. Overall demand from the steelmakers is low amid scrap purchases still being more attractive in terms of production costs. Market players do not expect any significant change in import billet tags in the near future, despite that further rebar tags softening is anticipated. “Egypt is active and will soon be buying a lot, this will give suppliers a chance to refrain from discounts,” a trading source. It is also worth mentioning, that the number of position cargoes in the market (end-June – beginning of July shipments) is rather limited, while mills are intending to keep their prices at $400/t FOB or above for July production volumes.

Prices for Turkey’s billet have softened over the week, both for local and foreign customers. Domestic offers slid by $10/t to $420-430/t EXW depending on region. Some producers, however, are quoting $5/t higher amid somewhat limited allocation. Export semis tags from Turkey remain largely indicative at $410-415/t FOB ($5/t down) and considered to be hardly competitive compared to offers from the CIS. Turkish sellers, however, have no intention to boost export billet sales as of today.
13 Jun 2017