Posted on 22 Jun 2023
Amid low cargo availability, Iranian mills have firmed up their export billet tags without taking into account buyers’ intentions and bids at and below $485/tonne, Kallanish notes.
The country's sole blast furnace-route steelmaker Esfahan Steel Company's second-half-August-readiness billet tender was finalised last Friday at $493/t fob Iran for 30,000-40,000 tonnes. Induction and electric arc furnace-route mills have thereafter been targeting $500/t fob in the new round of negotiations.
"Indonesia, a big market for Iranian semis exports, received ex-China billet offers at $530/t cfr Indonesian ports, which do not translate into deals. In the United Arab Emirates and Oman markets, local and Saudi imported billet is available at $515-525/t delivered to the buyer's yard. I don't see much chance for Iranian billet exports if they prevail at above $485/t fob,” opines a prominent trader.
"Due to electricity cuts in Iran, production will go down in summer; billet suppliers thus know cargo availability is short but they don't follow up the global trend for semis. The buyers who take positions for August-shipment cargoes are taking a risk, undeniably,” he adds.
Source:Kallanish
