This week, the cold weather conditions in Turkey have caused a slowdown in sales of final product (steel mesh, wire, nail) manufacturers, who mainly supply the construction industry. Although the return of Turkish mills to the scrap market has already pushed up scrap prices this week, buyers do not seem ready yet for any hikes in wire rod prices.
This week, some Turkish steel producers have increased their wire rod export offers by $10/mt as compared to last week to $690-700/mt FOB, in order to test the market. The reaction of buyers to these increased offers remains to be observed. However, it is thought that buyers in Dubai may be reluctant to conclude new purchases at these higher price levels.
Last week, wire rod export offers from Russia and Ukraine were at $680-685/mt for April shipments. While Turkish buyers have not shown much interest in this offer range considering the lead times, the CIS wire rod suppliers, who were away from the market early this week due to the International Women's Day holiday, are expected to revise their wire rod export offers next week for April shipments.
In Vietnam, the government's tight monetary policy has caused domestic wire rod prices to soften. SteelOrbis has learned that in this week's Vietnamese domestic market mesh quality wire rod prices stand at VDN 17.8 million/mt ($853/mt) ex-works, on actual weight basis, inclusive of 10 percent VAT and all other taxes.
In Montenegro, adverse weather conditions and weak wire rod demand have caused domestic prices for low-carbon wire rod to soften by €15-20/mt as compared to the February price level, dropping to €525-530/mt ($726-733/mt) CPT.
In the coming days, market observers will be watching to see the reaction of the international wire rod market to the Turkish mills' slightly increased wire rod export offers.