Iran: Billets export market quiet as mills hold back on lower bids

Iranian billets export market remained silent for yet another week with no deals so far. The Iranian market is in wait-and-watch mode amid falling bids in exports.

One of the major billets exporters from Iran, Chadormalu, opened an export tender for 30,000 t of billets, with the due date on 11 Jan'22 next week.

SteelMint's latest assessment of Iranian billets exports (3 SP) was stable w-o-w at $545/t FOB on 4 Jan'22.

"The market is relatively quiet with the low bids. Some more tenders are expected from other companies next week," informed a source.

Domestic billets prices up

Iran's domestic billet prices recovered on renewed buying interest among re-rollers after limited bookings seen in the past three weeks, as per sources.

Domestic billets trade on IME up 40%

Domestic billet sales on the Iran Mercantile Exchange were up by 40% w-o-w. However, the average sales price inched down w-o-w.

Around 114,550 t of billets were traded on IME in the week ending 05 Jan'22 at an average sales price of 126,090 Rial. Last week, about 82,840 t of billets were traded on IME at an average sales price of 126,224 Rial.

Outlook

As the Iranian market has been down since the few weeks, some deals are expected next week. Also, gas supply to power plants has been increased as per a recent report, which may boost production as well.