LONDON, Sept 10 （Reuters） - Steel billet prices in the Black Sea region and in Turkey have firmed this week in a holiday-thinned market, but traders said they expected demand to pick up next week.
A slowdown in the pace of global economic recovery has weighed on the steel industry, with demand lacklustre over the past couple of months. Muslims' holy month of Ramadan also contributed to the slowdown in transactions.
According to Steel Business Briefing data, Turkey's import price for billet is up at $545.42 a tonne from last week's $526.25 a tonne. The price of scrap, a key ingredient in the making of billet, held firm above $400 a tonne.
"I haven't heard of many deals this week, with Turks and the Middle East out because of the holidays," a UK-based trader said, referring to the Eid marking the end of Ramadan.
Many traders have been betting on higher prices going into September, once the summer holidays in the northern hemisphere are over, but construction demand has remained under pressure.
Another Europe-based trader said consumers were buying on the spot market to fulfil their immediate needs rather than for restocking, which weighed on overall demand for the long steel products used by the construction sector.
In China, prices on the domestic market rose this week, with supply expected to tighten after a large number of steel mills were ordered to cut or shut down production as part of a government efficiency drive. [STL/]
On the London Metal Exchange, three-month billet contract FMD3=LX traded at $510 a tonne, from around $500 a tonne last Friday.
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