Posted on 10 Jan 2024
Russian billet suppliers have expressed disappointment over the lack of firm price increases in finished steel markets, despite rises in imported scrap prices in Turkey, market participants inform Kallanish.
Russian billet suppliers have quoted export prices at $510-515/tonne fob Black Sea, but foreign buyers were predominantly quiet. At the same time, limited availability allowed some suppliers to make sales of 3,000 tonnes for January-shipment material at $551/t cfr Aliaga, Turkey. This equates to around $501-507/t fob Black Sea, considering the freight of around $38-40/t and premium for prompt shipment of $5-10/t.
“The market is still sleeping,” a sell-side source says.
However, billet availability from Russian mills is also limited. “I had a hard time finding billet and one [Russian] mill didn’t even offer since scrap prices were not clear in Russia,” a Turkish customer notes.
“Activity is still zero; February’s [billet] volumes are mostly sold out,” a trading source observes.
By comparison, Algerian billet was on offer at $539/t fob Algeria, against bids from foreign customers at $520-523/t fob for end-January/February shipment (see separate story).
Russia’s billet supply into Turkey in November 2023 declined by 29% on-year to 90,814 tonnes. Despite the country remaining the largest supplier that month with a 40% share of total billet intake, Algeria demonstrated a significant surge in billet trade volume in Turkey. The African country grew supply 250% on-year to 76,080t in November, staking its claim as rival to Russia.
Russian billet suppliers have expressed disappointment over the lack of firm price increases in finished steel markets, despite rises in imported scrap prices in Turkey, market participants inform Kallanish.
Russian billet suppliers have quoted export prices at $510-515/tonne fob Black Sea, but foreign buyers were predominantly quiet. At the same time, limited availability allowed some suppliers to make sales of 3,000 tonnes for January-shipment material at $551/t cfr Aliaga, Turkey. This equates to around $501-507/t fob Black Sea, considering the freight of around $38-40/t and premium for prompt shipment of $5-10/t.
“The market is still sleeping,” a sell-side source says.
However, billet availability from Russian mills is also limited. “I had a hard time finding billet and one [Russian] mill didn’t even offer since scrap prices were not clear in Russia,” a Turkish customer notes.
“Activity is still zero; February’s [billet] volumes are mostly sold out,” a trading source observes.
By comparison, Algerian billet was on offer at $539/t fob Algeria, against bids from foreign customers at $520-523/t fob for end-January/February shipment (see separate story).
Russia’s billet supply into Turkey in November 2023 declined by 29% on-year to 90,814 tonnes. Despite the country remaining the largest supplier that month with a 40% share of total billet intake, Algeria demonstrated a significant surge in billet trade volume in Turkey. The African country grew supply 250% on-year to 76,080t in November, staking its claim as rival to Russia.
Source:Kallanish
