Turkey’s integrated mill Kardemir has as expected opened its billet sales in the local market today, January 11, and has managed to trade a large volume, reflecting the acceptability of the price to local buyers given firm scrap prices and the uptrend in the rebar segment. In addition, the number of billet offers in the import segment is limited, while ex-Asia prices are currently not considered to be workable in Turkey.
Kardemir has announced billet prices at $580/mt ex-works for S235JR grade and $590/mt ex-works for B420 grade. The buyers showed demand for 56,500 mt, which is considered to be a decent tonnage. “It is for deferred payment, which means the buyer is offered an advantage. In addition, the previous sales were done by Kardemir around mid-December, so everyone needed to restock,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
In the import segment, the indications for ex-Russia/Donbass billet are at $540-550/mt CFR, while the most recent sale was closed at $551/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported. Estimated ex-Asia offers are at $565-570/mt CFR for February shipments, which is not considered workable due to the long lead time. Some eyes are on Algeria, where one of the mills had announced a tender for March production billet. However, while the bids were received at $525-530/mt FOB from international traders, the supplier has chosen not to conclude any deals for now.