In spite of Ramadan, end-user demand in the Middle East rebar market has continued to hover at high levels. Nevertheless, construction activity is still very slow in this region due to Ramadan. It is expected that activity in the construction sector will gain momentum after Ramadan ends and will surpass the pre-Ramadan activity levels. Construction companies may make significant purchases from local traders in October in order to compensate for lost time. It is heard that stocks are at really high levels in the UAE for the time being.
Market players are curious about when the UAE traders - who previously halted their purchases due to high stock levels and slowly declining price levels - will start to make purchases again. According to the reports from this region, the Turkish producers have offered rebars to this region at the price level of $700-750/mt CFR Dubai. However, the local traders have been incurring losses, especially since domestic rebar prices have been declining each week and are currently standing at AED 3,100-3,300/mt ($844-899/mt); furthermore, orders concluded by the traders at the price level of $1,500/mt CFR in late June/early July are being delivered nowadays. The local UAE traders are unable to forecast at what level prices will turn around and, for this reason, they are not rushing to purchase but prefer instead to melt their stocks before starting to buy again. Deliveries of orders (albeit for small tonnages) concluded in recent months at the price level of $1,570/mt CFR will be received at Dubai in the upcoming days.
Meanwhile, the rebar price levels in the Turkish domestic rebar market have this week remained almost unchanged. Traders' price levels this week in the local Turkish market of TRY 1,000-1,060/mt ex-works including VAT ($687-727/mt, excluding VAT) are at the same levels as last week. Also in the local market, the Turkish producers have kept their price levels at around $50/mt above their offers for exports. On the other hand, Turkish traders have not increased their stock levels this week compared to last week; before starting to make purchases, the Turkish traders are waiting for the Turkish producers to conclude large tonnage deals, particularly to the Middle East. These traders also expect that, in the event of such a move by producers, the falling price trend in the Turkish domestic market may come to an end. The Turkish rebar producers are offering rebars to regions other than the UAE and the US at price levels of $650-680/mt FOB Turkey for November shipments. It is heard that the stock levels of some Turkish producers are at high levels. For this reason, certain producers have been doing carrying out maintenance work and have suspended production for the time being.