Billet
Billet price in Iran
during last week was at downward trend as expected. Average price on Saturday
was USD 359/mt and declined to USD 351 /mt ex-work including 9% VAT by the
weekend. Some market chatters were heard about billet of lower than USD348/mt ex-work
including 9% VAT. IME (Iran Mercantile Exchange) weekly supplies continued in
the absence of sufficient demand.
June end is near and stricter
sanctions against Iran steel market when long products export level has
declined would be a problem. In this condition DRI producers in Iran are
looking for higher prices. Market available inventories are for last purchases
at base price of USD 152 /mt excluding VAT but mills are now looking for more
than USD 161/mt.
In any case, billet price is at its bottom,
the continuation of this price will lead to a decline in production.
Better billet price in
the future will be subject to the demand for debar, which is facing with export
problems itself.
Average selling price
of billet at IME, which was UDD 350/mt a month ago, which has dropped to USD 324
/mt currently. The main reason for the fall in billet price is lack of demand
in long products market. On the other hand, market outlook is unclear and won’t
let billet producers resist more against downward trends.
Long Products
Despite the fact that
production has reached bottom, long products prices were almost stable mainly
due to the drop in demand and lower export level. It was heard that export
condition for Iranians is facing some problems in Iraq, if it is true, Iranian
producers should Adapt themselves with new terms. Actually, small mills would be
the losers of possible changes.
I-beam price was
downtrend due to a drop in demand. Last Saturday, average price of sizes 14 to
18 in Isfahan was USD 402/mt , reaching USD 390/mt ex-work including 9% VAT by
end of the week.
Many market
participants hope that demand will improve in coming days as prices have reached
bottom, but also it depends on billet price at IME and retail market too.
Flat Products
HRC 2 mm thickness started
last week at USD 567/mt ex-work Isfahan including 9% VAT, but finished the week
at USD 549/mt. Ahwaz rolling co HRC stayed unchanged at USD 527/mt. The reason
for the decrease in the price of Mobarakeh Steel co HRC was that its base price
at IME decreased by USD 12/mt, but in the case of Ahwaz rolling and tubing co,
price has reached bottom, while its production for this size has dropped
significantly. Most market practitioners expect slab price to fall, which will
affect HRC price too, but the main problem is that export of pipes and profiles
is low and has affected the demand for HRC.
Average price of thickness
3-15 mm HRC of Mobarakeh Steel co, which was USD 563/mt on last Saturday, fell
to USD 548/mt by the end of the week. Downward trend was also seen in Oxin and
Kavian co HRP products.
Oxin co HRP thickness
10 - 40 mm dropped by USD 6/mt to USD 527/mt by the end of the week, while the
mill is resisting against lowering prices despite decreasing demand. Kavian co
HRP thickness 12-30 mm also dropped from USD 526 /mt on Saturday to USD 516/mt ex-work
including 9% VAT.
CRC price improved due
to limited supply level. Average price of thicknesses 0.42 to 2 mm rose from
USD 691/mt to USD 694/mt ex-work including 9% VAT.
HDG market was almost
unchanged and had a quiet sentiment. Its average price changed from USD 857/mt
to USD 857.5/mt by end of last week.
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CBI
weekly average ex-rate for Steel Products (SANA): 111.905 Rials / 1USD
24 June,
2019
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Iran
Steel News Bulletin