Billet prices in the major global markets continued to climb in the week ended Friday October 18, spurred by the tight availability of material in some markets, lively demand in China, and the uptick in global scrap prices.
CIS, TurkeyOffers of CIS billet were limited last week. This was partially due to the absence of several Ukrainain mills, which quit the market due to unfavorable market conditions earlier in the month.Another reason for tight supply was the successful sales of November-rolling volumes to the Middle East, Africa and Asia a week earlier.Last week, only a few offers of CIS-origin billet for November rolling were heard in the market at $365-370 per tonne fob Black Sea, up from $355-360 per tonne fob a week earlier."The billet market is definitely improving, and suppliers do not want to sell cheaply because supply is already tight," a trading source from Turkey said.Customers in Turkey were looking at $365 per tonne cfr ($350-355 per tonne fob Black Sea), while there were no offers available at less than $380 per tonne cfr from Thursday onward.Meanwhile, domestic and export billet prices in Turkey also increased...