Iranian billet export prices remain firm, lower bids turn market subdued

Iran's billet export market is deemed to be muted, as absence of active export tender is noted. Whereas, billet exporters are putting effort into maintaining export offers in the same level owing to demand from Asia in near future. Iranian billet producers are hoping to get better prices and higher support in terms of demand. In the domestic market, gas shortage issue during winter continued to impact production.

Meanwhile, export tenders are unavailable in the region. Recently exporters are adopting wait-and-watch mode, however, some bids of around $485-487/tonne (t) FOB are seen floated in the market.

As per SteelMint's latest assessment, Iran's billet (3SP) export prices remained firm w-o-w at $490/t FOB on 4 January 2024.

Iran's semi-finished steel exports in the first nine months of the current Persian year (21 March-20 December, 2023) stood at 5.62 million tonnes (mnt), an increase of 9% compared to the same period of last year, according to the recent data from the Petrometals.

Domestic billet and rebar prices continue downtrend amidst sluggish trade

Iran's domestic billet and rebar prices continued their downtrend owing to weak demand in the local market, sources informed SteelMint.

Billet sales on IME dropped

Domestic billet sales and the average sales price on the IME decreased as compared to the previous week.

Around 90,970 t of billets were traded on the IME in the week under review at an average sales price of 186,142 rial. Last week, about 114,900 t of billets were traded at an average price of 187,036 rial.