Posted on 06 Feb 2025
Gulf Cooperation Council billet suppliers are observing weak prices due to imported billet available in the market.
Last week saw 150mm 4sp billet offers from Russian mills at $460-465/tonne cfr GCC ports, rising this week to $475-480/t cfr for a 30,000-tonnes parcel. However, rebar re-rollers in the United Arab Emirates cannot take advantage of these attractive offers, as the UAE’s notified body, UK-headquartered Cares, is unable to grant ECAS certification because Russia is designated a sanctioned country, Kallanish notes.
Russian billet suppliers' 150mm 4sp billet offers were also reported at $450-455/t cfr Egyptian ports last week, while attempts were heard this week to raise prices to $470/t cfr.
Meanwhile, in the UAE, local, Qatari, and Oman-origin ECAS-certified 130/150mm 3sp billet offers continue to prevail at the same prices as last week – $500-505/t delivered to the buyer’s yard for prompt shipment. Iran-origin 100mm billet prices are heard at $550-560/t delivered to the buyer's yard in the northern Emirates, for 2,000-3,000t lots.
Scrap suppliers in the UAE are observing increasing demand from export markets. This week’s scrap transaction prices are as follows:
- AED 1,125/tonne ($306) for HMS 1/2 80:20, stable from last week
- AED 1,150-1,170/t for PNS
- AED 1,170-1,200/t for HMS sheared (commonly known as HMS Processed), up AED 20/t on-week
- AED 1,220-1,240/t for fabrication, up AED 10/t on-week at the high end
- AED 1,290/t for d-bar end-cut, up AED 20/t on-week
Source:Kallanish
