This week, Iran was reported to book approximately 65,000 MT billets to China, SE Asia, and the MENA region. KSC was noted to book 30,000 MT billets while ESCO booked 30,000 MT billets. However, there is a price difference of USD 10-12/MT in both the deals.
* ESCO’s booking was reported to conclude in two lots, 25,000 MT to MENA region and 10,000 MT to the SE Asian region. The average deal value for both the lots was noted to be at USD 350/MT, FoB Iran.
* While KSC booked a complete 30,000 MT lot to China at USD 360-365/MT, FoB Iran for Jul’20 shipment.
KSC was able to fetch a high price than ESCO because, the company has concluded the deal post-political Beijing political conference, and as it was foreseeable, the billet import offers in China witnessed a sharp hike, post-conference. However, the hike did not last for much longer, as the futures are noted to witness a reasonable drop. The event has pulled down the Iranian billet prices in China. Currently, the bids for Iranian billet in China are at USD 375/MT, CFR levels, trade sources reported to SteelMint. Also, the Chinese domestic billet prices have come down to RMB 3,240/MT ex-Tangshan, including VAT against last week’s closing of RMB 3,270/MT.
SteelMint’s current assessment for billet export offers from Iran is at USD 350-360/MT, FoB Iran, up USD 5/MT, against last week.
Meanwhile, the domestic billet prices in the country have witnessed an acute rise for the consecutive week. This week, approximately 145,000 MT billets were reported to be traded on IME; Iranian Mercantile Exchange, at an average price of IRR 58240/kg, up IRR 6900/kg, against last week. Sources mentioned, “Since, all the deals of the second and third week of this month were canceled, the supply-demand gap had got widen” and was the reason for price hike in the domestic market.
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