International Steel Market Daily: Russian billet exports blocked, Turkey takes over resources from Russia and Ukraine. (2022.3.30)
[Hot spot tracking]
According to Mysteel, Russian billet exporters still have a place in the Black Sea market and supply to Turkey and Egypt, but trading volumes are low.
The EU, UK and US sanctions have caused obstacles to Russian’s steel trade, mainly in financing and payment difficulties. A Turkish buyer bought 3,000 tons of steel billets from Russia last week at $855/t CFR Turkey. This week, the quotation of Russian factories fell to $ 845 / ton CFR Turkey. The buyer said the payment was made to an entity registered in a third country and not directly to the seller's account in Russia.
In addition, many traders operating in the Egyptian market use credit facilities from Western banks, which refuse to finance Russian exports. According to market news, local Egyptian buyers are willing to pay more than $850/ton CFR, but Russia still faces difficulties in financing overseas trade.
As the exports were blocked and the supply of billets in the CIS was severely reduced. Turkish billet exporters took advantage of this opportunity to take over the market demand-side resources previously supplied by Russia and Ukraine. Last weekend, a Turkish producer sold 40,000-50,000 tons of goods to the Dominican Republic at $885-888/ton FOB Samsun for shipment in May.
[Export from China]
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[Excerpt from international prices]
