Billet
Average billet price
was USD 416 /mt last Saturday and reached USD 427/mt ex-work including 9% VAT on
Wednesday. Authorities are making a lot of efforts to control billet price,
therefore, many offers are being seen at IME ( Iran Mercantile Exchange) every week.
Besides, DRI upward trend which reached USD 245/mt currently has actually
stopped but the reason for the increase in billet price was:
First, higher ex-rate,
which last week declined to Rials 140,000 /1 USD in free market and did not
return below that number. Concerns that Iran will be on the FATF black list made
ex-rate up. Another factor that has kept billet price high is DRI supply restriction,
which is affected by the cold weather. Its rising price is putting pressure on billet
producers’ liquidity level and has reduced their production level.
Unfortunately, as Iran
entered FATF blacklist, billet price may decline after its export rate declines.
But now the main reason for higher billet price is the cold weather which has
made production level lower. It should be noted that the market is virtually no
longer active for up to two weeks while production at mills continues.
Long Products
Average price of rebar on last Saturday was USD 466/mt, which
increased to USD 482 /mt by last Wednesday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, market
experienced most excitements in upward trend due to rising currency rate, but
this is also affected by the volume of billet supply. Due to the limited supply
of billet, only a few mills are supplying all sizes.
The increase in billet price has shortened the production
period and puts too much pressure on liquidity of re-rollers. It is hoped that the
problem will be stabilized by easing cold weather and improvement in billet
supply level.
Average I-beam price was USD 516 /mt on Saturday, but rose from
Tuesday onward, reaching USD 538/mt on Wednesday, due to rising currency rate and
market concerns.
Flat Products
HRC 2 mm thickness was USD 667 /mt
ex-work Esfahan on Saturday and USD 644/mt in Ahwaz which increased to USD 713 /mt
in Esfahan and USD 667 /mt in Ahwaz
including 9% VAT on Wednesday. Average price of sizes 3 to 15 mm rose from USD 719
/mt to USD 788/mt by Wednesday.
Oxin Co HRP market was still facing
with limited supply, therefore increased from USD 760/mt to USD 821/mt ex-work
including 9% VAT on Wednesday.
CRC price continued rising despite
a sharp downturn in the market. It was priced at USD 1000 /mt on Saturday and
was up to USD 1097/mt till Wednesday. Most participants are concerned about
these prices and do not trust this market situation.
HDG price was priced at USD 954/mt
on average on Saturday but reached USD 1005 /mt by Wednesday. HDG Supply level is
very limited.
CBI weekly average ex-rate for
Steel Products (SANA): Rials 130,481 / 1USD
24 Feb 2020