Russia and Ukraine sell billets to countries outside EU

After nearly two weeks of market stagnation, billet exports from Ukraine and Russia are gradually recovering, with exports to the Philippines, Taiwan, Egypt and Turkey starting last week.

Some EU countries, notably the UK, have imposed restrictions on ships entering their ports from Russia, which has so far made Russian steel largely incapable of exporting to Europe, but Middle East, African and most Asian countries have not explicitly banned it.

But compared to before the conflict, buyers are now more inclined to sign CIF contracts with exporters, which means that shipping and delivery insurance is borne by the seller. At the beginning of March, when the situation was tense, few shipments from the Black Sea could be insured, and most shipping lines stopped shipping from the Black Sea. This means that Russian exporters will be very competitive if they can guarantee a stable delivery service. However, some shipments from the Far East ports were still contracted at FOB prices at the beginning of last week, considering that the Far East ports are relatively stable at present.

Last weekend, the CIF price of Russian common billet to Turkey was at $850-860/t cfr, and this week’s offer to other regions was raised to $860-900/t cfr depending on the destination. The FOB price of common billet in Far East Port is around $780/t FOB.