Steel billet prices showed a slight increase in most regions in the week ended Friday March 15, with scrap costs remaining high, but demand in many buying outlets was weak.
The exception was Southeast Asia, where trading activity was strong, despite increased costs.Scrap prices remained at high levels, with Fastmarkets' daily index for Northern European HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap material at $318.37 per tonne cfr Turkey on Friday, up from $317.43 per tonne cfr a week before.CIS, North AfricaIn the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the billet market was rather quiet last week. Mills which had sold enough material in the previous week, as well as gaining support from the uptick in import scrap prices in Turkey, preferred to stay away from the market, offering material at $460-465 per tonne fob Black Sea.Customers in most outlets could not afford such high prices because they would not be able to pass on these higher billet costs to finished long steel buyers.Several traders indicated that $450 per tonne fob Black Sea would be a workable price, but inquiries at this level received...