Merchant bar prices continue to move on a fluctuating trend in the Turkish domestic market. Increases seen in raw material and billet prices have been reflected in domestic merchant bar prices, though prices have had to be revised due to the lack of demand. In addition, mills continue to apply discounts on their list prices, depending on tonnage and payment terms. Thus, differences are observed between list prices and sales prices. Also, various prices are heard depending on regions. As of today, April 27, prices in the Turkish domestic merchant bar market are in the range of TRY 805-880/mt.
On the export side, over the past week offers have been in the range of $490-510/mt FOB. In the merchant bar markets, where much more difficulty has been experienced as compared to the rebar markets, purchases continue to be concluded from the North African market. Due to the shortage of demand, merchant bars are currently at the same price levels as rebar, though they generally stand at higher levels. Meanwhile, counter bids given by buyers are further below the levels in question. However, the increases seen in raw material and billet prices are putting pressure on the mills to raise their finished steel prices.
At the same time, merchant bar prices have been showing increases in southern Europe. The main reason for these increases is indicated as the ongoing uptrend of scrap prices. Despite the merchant bar price increases, demand has failed to reach the expected levels in the southern European market. Purchases are generally concluded by stockists, while demand difficulty continues to be observed on the end-users' side due to the sluggishness seen in the construction sector.