In the Turkish domestic market
wire rod prices increased yesterday, May 11, on Turkish lira basis to reach TRY 1,360-1,426/mt including VAT, (TRY 1,153-1,208/mt excluding 18 percent VAT - approx. equivalent $727-762/mt), after having following a stable trend since last Friday. The US dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate is now at 1.58 levels and this was the main reason for the price revision.
The silent state of
wire rod demand has continued in
Turkey since last week.
Wire rod buyers still buy only as per their requirements, and the demand revival seen in the last week of April is no longer valid.
Wire rod buyers in
Turkey have put their purchases on hold, particularly from southern
Europe, in view of the euro/dollar exchange rate reaching 1.49. This week the exhange rate slipped back to 1.42, making negotiations for
wire rod exports from southern
Europe possible again.
Early this week, the Victory Day in
Russia and
Ukraine caused an absence of
CIS offers in the market. Following the holiday, low carbon
wire rod offers for June shipments started to be offered at $720-730/mt FOB, as SteelOrbis has learned.
In the meantime, mesh-making grade
wire rod prices in the Italian domestic market continue to stand at €520-530/mt delivered to customer. Mesh-making grade
wire rod demand in
Italy is described as weak in May. Following the softening in the exchange rate, export offers from
Turkey to
Europe are less attractive to Italian buyers.
This week the domestic
wire rod market in
Bulgaria saw stockists' price levels for mesh-making grade at BGN 980-990/mt CPT ($711-718/mt) on actual weight basis. Demand has not reached the desired levels yet. Following the expected price rise in the Montenegrin market last week, the price for 6 mm and above low carbon
wire rod reached €530-535/mt ($754-761/mt) CPT on actual weight basis.
Demand for final products (wire mesh, nails, etc.) is getting stronger in the Turkic republics in Central Asia, as we mentioned in our previous analysis, due to the stronger activity in their construction sectors. In addition, Turkish wire producers have started to improve their sales to EU countries as of last week with the advantage of the euro/dollar exchange rate, as SteelOrbis has heard from the market.
1 USD = 1.58 TRY