Global billet prices were given a boost during the week to Friday October 11 by an improvement in steel scrap import prices in the bellwether Turkish market and the return of Chinese buyers to the import markets.
Turkish scrap prices rose after news emerged that a steelmaker in the country had booked a scrap cargo containing an 80:20 mix of No1 and No2 heavy melting scrap from the United States at $233 per tonne on Wednesday October 9, which was $7 per tonne higher than the previous sale. However, market participants in Turkey turned cautious after political tensions with the United States intensified, shattering any hopes that an agreement could be reached with the US over import tariffs.CIS, Turkey, Egypt, GulfThe export price for billet from the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to strengthen with fresh bookings agreed by customers in Africa at higher prices.Customers in Egypt and Ethiopia booked a total of 25,000 tonnes of Russian billet through a trader at $356 per tonne fob Black Sea. The price from the mill was estimated to be $354-355 per tonne fob Black Sea, which would coincide with...