<span>CIS billet exporters in Caspian region have been having hard times as well. After a few deals in the first half of February, Iranian consumers have become inactive again. Amid unstable economic situation in Iran, entailing lower activity in longs segment, traders are not showing any interest in purchases. Thus, sellers, who have some February material left, have no other choice but to accept buyers’ rules. However, they do not hurry to start selling March production, waiting for demand to rally. <br> Quotations of the material from Russian and Kazakh producers have shed $5-15/t in a week, and stood at $610-630/t FOB. In particular, Casting (Kazakhstan) has lowered prices for billet by $30/t, to $610/t FOB Aktau in two weeks. Offers from REMZ (not more than 10,000 t) are available in the market at $630/t FOB Makhachkala (-$10/t from the upper end). The seller refuses to cut more. Taking into account that Iranian buyers bid no higher than $590/t FOB, no deals have been reported. <br> In the Far East exporters of Russian billet are still inactive amid limited supply of March casting. Only Asian buyers (mostly Vietnamese) are interested in trade; however, they have not yet agreed on the price. <br> Thus, Evraz Holding, which has 15,000 t of “March” billet at most, is not willing to sell at less than $660-665/t FOB ($680-685/t C&F). Buyers, seeing quotations of semis slide in the Middle Eastern market, still insist on discounts. In particular, bids from Vietnamese re-rollers have reportedly come at $650-655/t C&F ($630/t FOB). Nevertheless, sellers believe differed demand for billet in SE Asia will help them keep prices from falling. <br> (Source: <a href="http://www.metalexpert-group.com/"><span><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">www.metalexpert-group.com</font></span></a> )</span>