Prices for steel billet showed mixed trends in the various global trading regions in the week ended Friday November 9, increasing in the CIS, Turkey and Egypt, while falling in Iran and China.
The current high level of scrap prices in Turkey led to higher procurement of billet and improved sentiment among steelmakers in the Commonwealth of Independent States.Fastmarkets' daily index for Northern European HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap material was $329.65 per tonne cfr Turkey on November 9, slightly down from $332.30 per tonne a week earlier, but still higher than the $327.68 per tonne assessed on October 26.In Iran, a new round of trading sanctions damaged prices, while in China the market was affected by a downtrend in the price for rebar.CIS, TurkeyDemand for billet revived in the CIS region early last week, because of increased interest among Turkish steelmakers in the material as a replacement for highly priced scrap.Early last week, cargoes of Ukraine-origin billet with high manganese content were sold at $470-476 per tonne cfr, and a 20,000-tonne cargo from Russia was sold at $480 per tonne cfr - a...