High rebar inventories in Saudi Arabia lead buyers to wait

In the Saudi Arabian domestic market, state-controlled retail prices for rebar have remained at SAR 2,900/mt ($773/mt) and wholesale rebar prices are still at SAR 2,800/mt ($746/mt) - both ex-works and on theoretical weight basis. Local rebar prices in the Saudi market are not expected to change unless a steep decrease is observed in global market prices.
 
As expected, demand for rebar in the Saudi Arabian market has remained high, and is anticipated to reach its highest level for 2012 in the first quarter of this year. New construction projects are planned to be launched in the country on the back of economic prosperity, coupled with state support, and are foreseen to result in a gradual increase in demand.
 
Although rebar demand in Saudi Arabia is strong, since buyers have already sufficient inventory levels for the next few months they prefer to adopt a wait-and-see approach for now. In the meantime, no new rebar offer has been heard lately from Turkey to Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, with the diminishing of inventories, Saudi steel billet demand is expected to increase in the coming period, resulting in new steel billet import transactions.
 
$1 = SAR 3.750