Iran: Billet export prices continue falling

This week, Iranian billet export offers dropped further for the third consecutive week. However, we have not witnessed any deals at revised price levels. The ongoing Chinese New Year holidays (11-18 Feb '21), have kept the buyers quiet.

Meanwhile, Khouzestan Steel Company (KSC), floated an export tender for 30,000 t billets. The shipment is likely to be scheduled for Mar'21. The tender is likely due date is 13 Feb'21. The company is expecting the price levels of $510-515/t, FoB Iran.

However, during conversations with market participants, SteelMint learned that majority of the mills are not aggressively looking for bookings as post-holidays, they (Iranian mills) are anticipating better realizations. Recently, China has booked a couple of billet cargoes from Russia and Indonesia at $525/t, CFR and $540 CFR respectively, sending a signal that billet imports are likely to resume, actively in China post the New Year holidays.

An official from one of the leading Iranian mills said- "it is not like we are holding the offers, but these Chines New Year holidays have surely given us the time to fulfill our commitments in advance."

SteelMint's bi-weekly assessment for Iranian billets is currently at $510-515/t, FoB, down by $10-15 w-o-w.

The domestic market continues fetching strong demand: It was the third consecutive week when sizable billets reported having traded at the Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME). However, prices dropped for this week as well. According to our sources, this week around 110,730 billets were traded at an average price of IRR 101,641/kg ($406/t), down by IRR 3,343/kg ($24/t) w-o-w. The offered quantity was around 132,000 t.