Iranian exporters of semi-finished steel products, billet in particular, have come under pressure from the increasing presence of Chinese suppliers in the global market.
The domestic billet price in northern China has fallen by 380 yuan per tonne since the beginning of the week, reaching 3,050 yuan ($439) per tonne ex-works on November 28.The drop in the domestic price made the export market more attractive to Chinese suppliers. They made offers for large volumes of billet to customers in the Middle East and Mediterranean Sea basin, heard at $465-470 per tonne cfr. In Southeast Asia, offers of Chinese billet were heard at 455-460 per tonne cfr on November 28.But offers of Iranian billet were rare this week, with...