[SMM Steel] Black Sea Supply Disruptions Drive Recovery in Asia-to-Turkey Billet Trading

Published: Aug 19, 2026 16:33

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[Turkey] Over the past week, with Black Sea shipping nearly at a standstill and a Ukrainian steel mill suffering attack damage, several Turkish steelmakers have pivoted back to the Asian market for billet procurement. Turkey's billet import assessment has stabilized at 495–500 USD/tonne CFR. In terms of specific transactions, a mill in Izmir purchased 50,000 tonnes of imported billet from a trader at 495–500 USD/tonne CFR; prior to this, a section steel producer in the same region had already booked approximately 50,000 tonnes of Chinese billet. Notably, frequent attacks on Black Sea shipping routes have effectively paralyzed the dispatch of regional materials to Turkey. This disruption, compounded by the damage to a Ukrainian steel plant and elevated freight rates of around 45 USD/tonne from Russia to Turkey, has driven Turkish buyers' overall restocking demand firmly toward Asia.

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