Turkish rebar offers to the export markets have decreased by $15/mt on the low end over the past week to $320-345/mt FOB, while overseas buyers have continued to exert pressure on prices. Despite the ongoing weakness of demand for Turkish rebar in the export markets, some Turkish producers insist on not reducing their rebar offers below $340-345/mt FOB.
Meanwhile, Turkish steel producers’ rebar offers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey’s most important rebar market, have increased by $2/mt week on week to $332-337/mt CFR, on theoretical weight basis. However, UAE-based buyers’ are making firm bids at $320-330/mt CFR. While these firm bids have been rejected by Turkish producers, the buyers are continuing to exert pressure on prices by postponing their bookings, adopting a wait-and-see stance.
This week, ex-Turkey rebar offers to the US are in the range of $335-365/mt CFR. According to market sources, a Turkish steel producer has sold 11,000 mt of rebar to the US at $331/mt CFR, after negotiations. In the US rebar market, the weak demand situation has resulted in pessimistic sentiment among market participants, while it also continues to exert pressure on import and domestic rebar prices.
Meanwhile, the import rebar market in Egypt is currently silent following the government’s announcement of its plans to impose new import regulations. Nevertheless, Turkish producers state that there is strong potential demand for Turkish rebar in Egypt, while they have started working on implementing the procedures in order to continue their rebar exports to the country.
This week, the Algerian government announced a limit of 2 million metric tons on rebar imports into Algeria for the whole of 2016. However, this situation is not expected to exert a direct impact on Turkish producers for now, since Algeria has already imposed 15 percent import duty on rebar from Turkey, which keeps Turkish producers out of the Algerian market.