Steel billet prices in most major markets around the world fell in the week to Friday February 7 amid expectations of lower ferrous scrap import prices in the bellwether Turkish market.
Scrap prices in Turkey, the world's largest importer of the steelmaking raw material, had fallen by $44.68 per tonne to
$260 per tonne on February 7 from a year-to-date high of $304.68 on January 7.
The coronavirus outbreak in China also created much uncertainty in the steel markets, with market participants adopting a cautious approach while waiting for most of the Chinese market to return to work after the extended lunar new year holiday. They were expected to come back from February 10 onward.
CIS
Sentiment was bearish in the CIS export market because of decreases in the price of Turkish ferrous scrap midway through the week.
At the start of the week, cargoes of 10,000-20,000 tonnes were heard to have been sold to Algeria at $392-395 per tonne fob Black Sea.
By midweek, however, offers for CIS-origin billet were heard as low as $375...