Billet
Billet price fell during last week as expected. The average on
Saturday was USD 392/mt and reached USD 384 /mt by the weekend. The decline in
billet price was due to the following factors:
First, lower rebar demand and its price drop
Second, market confusions
Third, billet price bubble burst
Khorasan Steel Complex on Sunday sold its billet at USD 371/mt at
IME, which was USD 10/mt lower than last week, but at the end of the week, the
same mill managed to sell at USD 360 /mt, down by USD 9/mt from three days ago.
This price is practically low based on the defined price gap between DRI and billet.
Base price of DRI has reached at least USD 210/mt , but it must be remembered
that many mills have purchased DRI at prices between USD 177- 185/mt, which may
be delivered by end of the year. Since these mills are facing with liquidity
problems, they are trying to get their billet closer to cash as a result, the
possibility of a sharp increase in billet price due to the competition of small
mills is under question, but it is inevitable by the end of the year because supply
of DRI is still limited.
Long
Products
Average price of rebar
on Saturday was USD 433/mt, which reached USD 421 /mt ex-work including 9% VAT by
weekend. There were two reasons behind this decline:
Firstly, rebar
cargoes purchased during last few weeks, with an average price of about USD 387mt
has come to the market and did not allow prices growth.
Secondly, on the
other hand, the upward trend of prices in recent weeks, coupled with political
issues, has led to ambiguities in decision makings and have reduced market
activities.
If billet
price stays within the range of USD 379, there would be no room for rebar price
increase. Billet producers had trouble selling their product last week.
Continuing this trend could stabilize rebar price, but on Wednesday it was
announced that base price of rebar is higher than last week, but that does not
mean a market boom.
Average price of I-beam
size 14 was USD 500/mt by last Saturday, which dropped to USD 489/mt by
Wednesday.
Market's gloomy view
on I-beam caused its price at IME drop by USD 9/mt on last Saturday compared
with its last sale, while large sizes of 20 to 24 saw price increases. The
downtrend trend at IME was repeated on Tuesday, and sizes 14- 18 dropped by USD
9/mt compared to Saturday, reflecting market expectations.
Flat
Products
HRC 2 mm thickness was
traded at USD 585/mt ex-work Esfahan on last Saturday and USD 564 /mt in Ahwaz,
but price declined during the week. In Esfahan
it reached USD 572/mt and in Ahwaz it became USD 539/mt ex-work including VAT.
The cause of the decline was the pullback of demand. Mobarakeh Steel co HRC
thickness 3 and 4 mm were limited in supply, but 5 to 15 mm thickness was
priced at USD 637/mt on Saturday, then decreased to USD 599/mt on Tuesday. The
reason for the decline was Mobarakeh steel co supplies. On Wednesday, sellers
stopped supplying to offset a reduction of USD 25/mt but since market demand is
not so serious, success of this view is full of doubts
Oxin co HRP price saw
an increase as thickness of 10 to 40 mm, which ranged around USD 649/mt on
Saturday, reached USD 627/mt on Wednesday. Kavian co which offered limited
thicknesses, was faced with price fluctuations. The average price of
thicknesses 15 to 20 mm were USD 606/mt on Saturday, till Wednesday it dropped
to USD 577 /mt.
CRC price was downward,
but because of limited supply, the ratio was not serious, and fell from USD 825
/mt to USD 817/mt ex-work including VAT. The peak season of CRC consumption is
in January and February, so the product is in the best demand condition at the
moment.
HDG was faced with a
decline in price due to the decrease in HRC price and decreased from USD 803/mt
to USD 792/mt.
CBI
weekly average ex-rate for Steel Products (SANA): Rials 118.765 / 1USD
20 Jan
2020
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Iran
Steel News Bulletin
www.Ifnaa.ir
www.irsteel.com