Billet
Despite continued
growth of prices in the world market, billet market was declining in Iran
domestic market from USD 483/mt to USD 480/mt ex-work including VAT by end of
the week. Price controlling policies didn’t let transactions level to improve as
out of 133000 tons of billet offered at IME ( Iran Mercantile Exchange), 60000 tons
were traded.
Due to the severe recession in long products market,
this trend will continue this week, but the price reduction will not be
significant due to limited supply of DRI and scrap and market will be faced
with just more depression.
Long
Products
Average price of long
products was up by end of the week, but market was quiet due to government
price controlling policy. At the end of the week, some last purchased cargoes
were being offered below IME price level. Continued upward trend in rebar and billet
prices in world markets and government pressures have caused the market turmoil
and as a result, trading has stopped. Re- rollers which do not export suffer
the most from this market trend. Average rebar price was changed from USD 524/mt
to USD 537/mt ex-work including VAT by end of the week.
I- beam price
improved slightly, but trading was stopped. It improved by USD 5 /mt till
Monday to USD 552 /mt , then declined to USD 545 /mt by end of the week. Market
price has reached its bottom and it is not possible to reduce further because
traders would lose money, so they avoid selling and are not buyer too.
Out of a total of
195,000 tons of rebar and I-beam offered on IME last week, only 616 tons of
rebar and 92 tons of I-beam were traded. This is a warning to authorities to be
aware that price controlling policy will lead to bankruptcy of mills.
Flat
Products
HRC 2 mm thickness which
was priced at USD 904/mt on Saturday, did not change until the weekend. Price
of Mobarakeh Steel co 3 to 15 mm HRC was on the rise due to limited supply of
the mill from USD 726/mt to USD 748/mt by end of the week.
Oxin co HRP was
faced with a price increase, which is due to the fact that the mill has stopped
selling Grade ST-37. Its price improved by USD 12 /mt to USD 729 /mt ex-work
including VAT. If this policy continues, market will soon see HRP price rise
sharply. Kavian co HRP was also faced with the same trend. Its price changed by
USD 8/mt to USD 676/mt.
Interestingly, despite higher price of slab in
global markets and also IME (Iran Mercantile Exchange), did not have buying
interest, which is due to state policies. If this trend continues, flat
products market would be faced with supply constraints soon.
CRC market was
upward until Tuesday, but then the market calmed down with the intervention of authorities
to control prices. CRC supply level is limited and government's power to control
this product price is not strong, but the market also does not have the
tendency to increase prices. Its price rose from USD 1124/mt to USD 1134/mt
till Tuesday, then declined to USD 1121 /mt by end of the week.
HDG price declined due
to the supply of 3 mm thickness HRC supplied by Mobarakeh Steel co and lower exchange
rate. It was down by USD 17 /mt to USD 1072/mt ex-work including VAT.
CBI
weekly average ex-rate for Steel Products (SANA): Rials 254,313 USD
11 Jan
2021