The market for CIS export steel billet finally saw a thaw in buying activity in the week ended Friday March 22 despite the fact that not all customers were ready to accept the prices being offered by mills.
Offers from CIS producers for April- and May-rolling material varied within the range of $460-465 per tonne fob Black Sea, while most bids were still lower than $450 per tonne fob Black Sea.The lowest bids were heard from Turkey, where customers were ready to pay no more than $450 per tonne cfr - equivalent to $435 per tonne fob Black Sea.A Russian supplier was heard to have sold more than one billet cargo at $450 per tonne cfr earlier in the week.But because this material originated from eastern...