Iranian market players report a significant increase in domestic raw material and steel prices, particularly for billet, due to the expected energy tariff and supply issues during the winter period. In this situation, if the higher local prices are accepted, the export allocation of semis may be reduced in the short term. Still, a new billet export tender has been floated.
In particular, Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company has announced that it intends to sell a cargo of 30,000 mt of 150 mm 12 m 5SP/3SP billet to be loaded from Bandar Abbas port. The deadline for the tender is noon, December 13, while delivery is for early January 2024. It is mainly believed that traders currently have a limited number of positions, given mills’ scarce sales in the previous couple of weeks. The indications for Oman and the UAE are at $490-495/mt CFR and $500/mt CFR Dammam, while the latest offers to Southeast Asia have been at $510/mt CFR, with no fresh offers reported just yet.
In the domestic market, billet prices at the Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME) are now at IRR 20,300-20,700/kg or $495-505/mt, based on the official government rate of $1 = IRR 41,000. Over the past week, local billet prices in Iran have increased by IRR 1,000/kg or $25/mt. “The export allocation [of billet] will certainly be less since there is a surge in DRI prices and in local billet prices and also the export tax,” a source told SteelOrbis.