Iran: Billets export trade silent despite active offers post-Nowruz holidays

Iran's billets export market saw active offers this week in contrast to the subdued activity expected by some market participants after the Nowruz holidays.

Around 90,000 tonnes (t) of steel billets were offered in the export market by Iranian steel mills to get a better price clarity, sources informed SteelMint. Apart from this, there has been no information about new offerings from mills.

However, Khuzestan Steel Company's (KSC) billet tender might get cancelled owing to the bid-offer disparities as the mill was aiming to sell at around $560/t FOB, and bids received were comparatively lower by around $15-20/t FOB, sources informed.

"They (KSC) were aiming to sell at $560/t FOB but the market had sharper drops and people were talking about the lower levels. As a result, the tender might get cancelled," mentioned an Iranian source.

SteelMint's latest assessment of Iran's billet (3SP) export prices stood at around $560/t FOB on 4 April, a fall of $17/t, w-o-w.

Domestic trade on IME falls w-o-w

Domestic billet sales on the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) saw a decrease of 30% w-o-w. Meanwhile, the average sales price increased marginally by 1% w-o-w.

Around 103,330 t of billets were traded on the IME in the week under review at an average sales price of 188,715 Rial. Last week, about 147,550 t of billets were traded at an average sales price of 185,848 Rial.

Outlook

Iran's steel billet export prices are expected to see a downward trend amid a fall in global scrap prices and bid-offer disparities in the recently floated export tenders.