A quiet atmosphere prevails in the Turkish domestic wire rod market, with buyers expected to make their final decisions on purchases after the end-of-Ramadan holiday. Due to the holiday, final product sales are currently on the sluggish side.
The hot topic regarding the Turkish economy this week was the raising of TRY 3.614 billion of funds by the Turkish Treasury via the reissuing of 20-month discount bonds on TRY basis. Next week, it will be interesting to see the impact of these bond sales, which exceeded expectations, on the $/TRY exchange rate.
In Europe, the National Bank of Greece is preparing for a public offering of a portion of Finansbank shares. This move can be seen as the sign of the pressure on Greek banks due to the economic crisis. On the other hand, the continuing poor performance of the Portuguese, Irish and Greek banks as compared to the German banks, which are considered as reference points for European Union banks, may be interpreted as a sign of possible weakening of the purchasing power of some European consumers.
In the Middle East, some buyers in Dubai report that they may choose to supply their wire rod needs from the domestic market if import offers prove to be too high for them. Increases in ex-China boron-added wire rod offers have caused buyers in Dubai to hesitate regarding these offers. Observers are wondering whether Turkish and CIS producers will fill the gap left by China with possible transactions to Dubai at attractive offer levels.
While some Turkish producers' export offers for mesh quality wire rod have been standing at $610-620/mt FOB, it is heard that buyers do not yet hold a positive view of prices at the level of $620/mt. In the international wire rod market, which has made a quiet start to September, wire rod prices are expected to gain clearer shape after the end-of-Ramadan holiday.