Turkey has made several inquiries about billets, and Jindal Shadeed in Oman, Emirates Steel in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar Steel in Qatar, and Hadeed in Saudi Arabia have all gotten these inquiries and are getting ready to provide quotes. While there have been no actions taken to remove Turkey’s import duty on rebar and billet, this week’s softening of rebar and billet quotes has made it challenging for mills in the bloc to assess the Turkish market.
While Iranian-origin billet is available at $625-635/t cfr depending on tonnage, the Omani mill is reportedly aiming $625-635/tonne fob, translating to $675-680/t cfr Turkiye, both for April shipment.
To try the Turkish market, sellers are offering 150mm 3sp billet at $640-650/t cfr Turkiye for shipment in April, but even this price is failing to pique interest.
“After natural gas and electricity prices fell in Turkiye, costs decreased and Turkish mills are not ready to pay more than $630/t cfr, if the producer’s country has no free trade agreement with Turkey,” says a senior mill official familiar with the Turkish market.
The inward processing procedure for the mills located in Turkiye’s earthquake-affected region has been extended from four months to the end of 2023. This means that mills won’t be under time constraint when they import billet because they can export re-rolled rebar until the end of the year. “Mills in the remainder of the nation submitted applications for the same regulation, but the Turkish government has not yet provided a response. Moreover, the Turkish government has opposed eliminating the import tax on billet and rebar.
“I believe that $625โ630/t cfr is a realistic billet price for the Turkish market. The purchasing of billet will increase in Turkey if Russian billet softens to $580-590/t fob from its current $620/t fob, according to a trader.
“Mills in the Gulf ought to perceive the situation more truthfully. Turkish plans to buy 4 million tonnes of rebar in three to four months, which were revealed in mid-February, are unrealistic, sent the wrong message to the market, and drove up the price of scrap and semis. I anticipate a price adjustment,” he continues.
Although it is not yet obvious how the free trade agreement between the UAE and Turkey will affect the trade in ferrous metals, it was signed last week.
