CIS billet prices increased again last week amid fresh demand resulting in new sales at mills' offer levels. The sales lifted current offers to the pivotal $400/tonne fob mark and slightly higher, enabling mills to continue with price increases.

Several lots of billet, some considerable, were sold at $395-400/t fob Black Sea in the last week. Ukrainian billet found its way to Latin America and Algeria, following sales a week prior to the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Turkey. The latter paid $395-400/t cfr for direct and traders’ lots from Russian mills.

A Russian coastal producer has also sold billet at around $400/t fob, along with another, integrated producer, traders say. A sale to Turkey at $415/t cfr was heard, but could not be confirmed at the time Kallanish went to press.

North African buyers, previously bidding at around $400/t cfr, have increased their indications to $415-420/t cfr, but there is no availability at these prices, considering fresh quotes are at $400-410/t fob. Although Southeast Asian demand is catching up with pricing at $435/t cfr, and is theoretically workable for large lots from the Black Sea, there have not yet been sales from western Russian ports. However, market sources do not exclude the possibility in the near future.

There is no doubt among sources that it is rising scrap prices both in the CIS and everywhere else, and materialising delayed demand that is pushing prices of billet up right now. With January-casting books moving towards closure already for some mills, sales at current offer levels are likely to continue. But further increases are still constrained somewhat by weaker finished long product demand.