Billet
Average price of billet
was USD 333/mt ex-work including 9% VAT last Saturday, which reached around USD
328/mt by the weekend. One reason behind downward trend was lower debar price
and on the other hand, beginning of Religious Mourning ceremonies, because billets
bought last week after being converted to finished product should be sold this
week, but the upcoming Religious Mourniong Holidays has made market quiet. As a
result, price declined. On the other hand, the prospects for the steel market
are not optimistic at all. Most market participants expect the price of DRI to
drop, this could lead to a drop in billet price near prices seen in first
months of 2018. While all the components affecting finished price cost, such as
wages, energy costs, transportation, etc., have increased compared to last
year.
Long
Products
Average price of debar,
which was USD 379/mt on Saturday last week, decreased to USD 378/mt ex-work
including 9% VAT on Wednesday.
Reasons behind this
downward trend were:
1- Lower demand as
Mouring Religious Holidays of Moharram were near.
2. The downward trend
in billet price and the negative outlook for the steel market
3. The decline in
steel exports due to falling prices and stagnation in the world market
Current price of
debar have returned to last year's prices, while production costs has increased,
on the other hand, demand has declined and made productivity rate lower, leading
to higher depreciation costs.
I-beam price was
accompanied by some ups and downs. Average prices for sizes 14, 16 and 18 in
Isfahan, which started the week at USD 392/mt, rose slightly from Sunday to USD
404/mt ex-work including 9% VAT on Wednesday. Lower supply level of Isfahan
Steel co was the only reason behind this trend.
Flat
Products
HRC 2 mm thickness was USD 531/mt last Saturday
which reached USD 508/mt by the weekend. Ahwaz's product was reported at USD 508/mt
on Saturday, but fell to USD 492/mt by the weekend. Price for thicknesses 3 to
15 mm also decreased from USD 505/mt to around USD 503/mt . This was due to
high supply of 3 to 6 mm thickness HRC in the market. On the other hand, the downward trend in
market demand contributed to this price return. This trend will continue as the
market actually stops this week.
Oxin co HRP was traded at an average price of USD
483/mt on Saturday, but reached USD 472/mt by Wednesday. Some traders insisted
on selling their product, and therefore the mill's attempt to maintain the
price does not lead to the desired result.
There were also rumors in the market that slab
price will decline by USD 27/mt to USD 318/mt, therefore, traders didn’t resist
against discount requests of buyers.
CRC price had a stagnant market last week and
the average price fell from USD 657/mt to USD 654/mt by Wednesday. There are
two reasons for this downtrend:
First, the decline in demand, and the second,
supply of some sizes, especially lower price predictions for 0.5 and 0.60 mm
thickness CRC, helped to reduce average price of CRC.
HDG, which was priced at USD 733.5/mt on
Saturday, fell to USD 725/mt ex-work including VAT on Wednesday. Most important
cause of the decrease was Lower price for HRC thickness 2 to 6 mm. Continuing
this price drop will definitely pressure HDG market in coming weeks.
-----------------------------
CBI
weekly average ex-rate for Steel Products (SANA): Rials 110.189 / 1USD
07 Sep,
2019
----------------------------------------------
Iran
Steel News Bulletin