Billet
Billet price had
an upward trend until Monday, improved from USD 532/mt to USD 537/mt but after
the sales at IME ( Iran Mercantile Exchange), it lost momentum and dropped to
USD 529/mt ex-work includng VAT.
Long
Products
Rebar price experienced some fluctuations
during last week in Iran domestic market from USD 606/mt to USD 618/mt and
finished the week at USD 605/mt ex-work including VAT.
I-beam market also experienced some ups and
downs during last week from USD 706/mt to USD 719/mt by middle of the week and
dropped to USD 702/mt by end of the week.
Flat Products
Mobarakeh Steel co HRC market was almost stable due to supply
shortage of some thicknesses. HRC 2 mm thickness declined by USD 5/mt to USD 943/mt
by Wednesday last week.
The supply
limit of Oxin co HRP is getting more serious every day, but weak demand does
not allow its price to increase significantly. Its average price changed from
USD 848/mt to USD 856/mt ex-work including VAT.
Higher HRC price, ex-rate change and upward prices in China market helped
CRC market improveme from USD 1086/mt to USD 1096/mt by end of the week.
Higher HRC market made HDG price up from USD 1073/mt to USD 1075/mt but
finished the week at USD 1065/mt ex-work including VAT.
Weekly Analysis:
In the world market:
Oil price fluctuates in the range of USD 80 /barrel. The rising trend of
iron ore, scrap and billet prices, which stopped early last week, has started
to improve again. Although this trend
is slow, but is different from the possibility of a decrease that was predicted
before, as a result of which confusion of the market continues.
Perhaps the New Year and China holidays will
help calm the market, by then the Gaza war future will probably be clear and
the markets will resume their activity unless things go differently. In any case, at the
end of November, prices had reached bottom, from which they have naturally
moved away, the Chinese market has almost found its way, so global markets conditions
will not be worse than a month ago, when billet price had reached the bottom of
USD 450/mt fob.
In the domestic market:
The announcement of export duties on minerals
will show its effect this weekend, but considering the trend of exporting iron
ore, concentrate, and most importantly, pellets, the possibility of price
reduction is weak.
An important factor is the lack of DRI, which
will play the main role until mid-March. The imbalance is at
this point, big mills have DRI quota or are producers themselves, in any case,
they are also involved due to the gas problem that started last week. Small mills that depend on DRI will reduce their production and
turn to scrap use, which will increase scrap price. However, billet production is affected by these issues.
Billet purchase at IME were welcomed last week, so demand for DRI will be high. Besides, billet
supply is mainly for rebar products sold at IME before. Liquidity issue and the
price pressure are both affecting the market. There is a restriction on the
supply of pellets and DRI in the stock market. The factor that is currently
effective and absent is the exchange rate, which has a lot to say about in the next
year's government budget.
CBI average ex-rate for Steel Products (SANA): Rials 385,933 / 1USD
18 Dec 2023
M.Chitsaz
Iran Steel News
Bulletin
IFNAA.IR
IRSTEEL.COM