CIS STEEL BILLET: Market awaits more clarity after long holidays, customers' mood pessimistic

Uncertainty was weighing on the CIS export market for steel billet in the week ended Wednesday January 8, with market participants returning from their year-end holidays and waiting for mills to announce offers of February-rolling material.

At the same time, there was a degree of pessimism among many customers, because of the lack of demand for finished long steel products.
Adding to the negative sentiment, there was widespread discussion of a 10,000-tonne cargo of wire rod-grade billet sold to Algeria at $432 per tonne cfr. This price would net back to around $402 per tonne fob Black Sea, excluding a $5 per tonne extra payment for the special grade.

This deal was not...

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