Iranian billet export prices slipped by around $45/tonne (t) in a recent deal on lower Chinese buying indications close on the heels of the continuously down-trending Chinese rebar futures. According to data maintained with SteelMint, the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rebar futures’ October contracts dropped by RMB 369/t ($58/t) week-on-week (w-o-w) to reach RMB 4,817/t ($755/t) on 27 May’21. However, on a day-on-day (d-o-d) basis, SHFE rebar futures settled with a rise of RMB 150/t ($24/t), showing signs of a rebound. However, it will be too early to predict the market trend, as buyers across the globe are in a wait-and-watch mode.
Confirmed deals
- Khorasan Steel Company, one of Iran’s leading steelmakers, sold 30,000 t of billets through a recent export tender, as per SteelMint reports. According to sources, the company concluded the tender at $645, FoB Iran for July ’21 shipments.
- Another leading steel exporter had floated an export tender for 30,000 t of billets but cancelled it later due to bid-offer disparity. According to SteelMint’s sources, the tender received bids at $585-590/t FoB Iran levels.
- Towards the end of last week, Iran’s leading steel exporter, Khouzestan Steel Company (KSC), reportedly concluded a 30,000-t billet export tender and a slab export tender of the same volume. The billet tender was heard to have been concluded at $690/t FoB, for June ’21 shipments to China. The slab tender was heard to be concluded at $780/t FoB.
SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for billet export prices from Iran stands at $640-650/t, FoB Iran, down by $45/t w-o-w.
No domestic trade seen on IME: The Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME) saw yet another silent week with no volumes of billets being traded. An Iranian source highlighted that active bookings in exports have kept mills away from the domestic market.
The Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA) recently released production statistics of the steel mills for the last fiscal. Key highlights are:
- Finished steel production increased by 10% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 22.08 million tonnes (mn t). Mobarakeh was the largest producer.
- Production of flat steel increased by 7% to 10.5 mn t and that of long steel by 13% to 11.6 mn t.
- Semi-finished steel output accounted for 30.25 mn t of the total output, up by 11% y-o-y.
29 new mining projects to start operations: Vajihollah Jafari, head of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), recently announced that 29 mining projects are ready to become operational across the Islamic Republic, as per latest reports accessed by SteelMint. Jafari further informed that 13 of these are related to the steel chain. The projects, worth over $355 million, will create 1,053 direct and 2,655 indirect jobs, the senior official said.
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