Iran: Billet export prices rise in recent deals

This week, the Iranian billet export market saw sizeable bookings for China and SE Asian destinations. The billet export prices from the country witnessed a sharp rise after the export bookings. The majority of the Iranian mills were on a wait & watch mode until the Chinese Golden Week holidays (ended on 8 Oct'20) and have seen extending negotiations and hosting of their tenders for this week. Considering that, the market will pose strong sentiments post-holidays, which worked in their favor.

Two Iranian export majors', Khouzestan Steel Company (KSC) and Esfahan Steel Company (ESCO), reportedly have booked around 60,000 t billets at increased prices. Details of the deals are mentioned below

SteelMint's assessment for Iranian billet export stands at $410-415/t, FoB, up by $8-10/t against last week.

Domestic billet prices at IME witness a sharp rise of IRR 10,774/kg ($17/t): The domestic billet prices in Iran at the Iranian Mercantile Exchange (IME) rose by IRR 10,774/kg ($17/t) amid depreciating IRR against $. In a recent trade event hosted by IME, approximately 86,000 t billets traded at an average price of IRR 104,386/kg ($393/t).

Iran's billet production crossed the 11 mn t mark: Iran produced over 11.242 mn t of steel billets during the Mar-Sept'20 period, the first six months of the Persian calendar year. Production is likely to surpass 30 mn t in the current Iranian calendar year (ending on 20th Mar'21), informed government sources.

Iranian steel exports drop by 32% y-o-y during H1 Persian Year: The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) has recently published the export figures of Iran's major steel producers for the current H1 Persian year. According to the report, the steel (semi-finished + finished) exports of the major mills have dropped by 32% y-o-y to reach 2.32 mn t. In the sixth month, the same stood at 0.46 mn t, down by 20% y-o-y. With 0.6 mn t of exports, during H1 Persian Year Khouzestan Steel Company (KSC) remained the largest exporter.