Proposal to amend Iranian billet, slab price assessments

Following initial consultations with market participants and a review of the typical data sets that have been collected in recent months Fastmarkets proposes to change some grades, minimal trade volumes, timing and payment terms, which will enable to better reflect the state of the export semi-finished steel market in Iran.

Particularly, the minimum tonnage was increased to 10,000 tonnes from 1,000-3,000 tonnes as most offers and deals are not below this tonnage.

The proposal to widen timing to 4-8 weeks from 6 weeks reflects a protracted trend towards longer shipment times due to increased frequency of seasonal gas and electricity outages.

And payment terms will be changed to “10-30% prepayment, rest before vessel sail from seller’s port” from “up to 30% prepayment, 70% L/C” to reflect current payment terms, subject to the consultation.

The proposed new specifications are shown below, with the changes in italics:

MB-STE-0782 Steel billet export, fob ports Iran, $/tonne
Quality: 3-5sp,130x130mm to 150x150mm, length 8,000-12,000mm
Quantity: minimum 10,000 tonnes
Location: fob Iran
Timing: 4-8 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: 10-30% prepayment, rest before vessel sail from seller’s port
Publication: Weekly. Wednesday, 2-3pm London time

MB-STS-0019 Steel slab export, fob ports Iran, $/tonne
Quality: Width 900-2,000mm, thickness 195- 250mm, length 3,800-11,000mm
Quantity: minimum 10,000 tonnes
Location: fob Iran
Timing: 4-8 weeks
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: 10-30% prepayment, rest before vessel sail from seller’s port
Publication: Weekly. Wednesday, 2-3pm London time

These prices are a part of the Fastmarkets’ steel metals package.

The consultation period for the proposed amendment starts from Wednesday May 1 and ends one month from the date of this pricing notice on Wednesday May 29. The amendment will then take place, subject to market feedback, on Wednesday June 5.

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these price assessments, please contact Vlada Novokreshchenova by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Vlada Novokreshchenova, re: Iranian export billet and slab price assessment.”

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.