The Iranian export market for steel billet was largely inactive in the week to Wednesday March 25, with a sharp drop seen in demand both in the domestic market and most export outlets, Fastmarkets has heard.
The decline in demand was a result of the time given to celebrations of the Iranian new year on March 20-23, and a state of semi-lockdown announced in the country for the next two weeks due to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic.
"People have to stay at home and avoid travelling. Most industries are also closed, but some steel mills continue to operate," one source said.
"Almost every steel mill is trying to shut down or reduce capacity utilization to a minimum level during these two weeks, mainly because of coronavirus issues," another trader said.
"At present, due to the measures taken to control 2019-nCoV, mills have reduced their working hours," a third source said. "Transportation has slowed down and there are not enough raw materials, so the production rate is lower."
As a consequence, no new prices had been...