In recent weeks in Iran rebar prices have been soaring ahead of the prices of other long products. Local traders in Iran are currently transacting 12-25 mm rebar sizes at $1,440-1,490/mt ex-stock Tehran - up about $220-250/mt compared to 10 days previous. This rising trend started just three weeks ago when rebar was at a price range of $1,140-1,160/mt ex-stock Tehran - $300-330/mt less than the existing range. Indeed, local prices in Iran are getting closer to global levels and may even exceed them.
The Iranian rebar market, just like the domestic market for other long products, was calm in April and May. However, it began to flourish in June, a month when local demand usually begins to approach its peak summer levels. There was a considerable gap between local and global prices during recent months, preventing most traders from importing new material. This explains the year-on-year decline in imports of some finished steel products in recent months, as seen in the figures issued by the Iranian customs authorities.
The market leader Esfahan Steel Co. recently hiked its sales prices of rebar. On June 22 this producer sold 12-25 mm size rebar at about $1,283/mt ex-works with a two-month delivery period through the Tehran Mercantile Exchange. Other Iranian state-owned mills also increased their prices following the example of Esfahan Steel. The price increases of the state-owned mills, the rising demand in the local market, as well as the global trend, are all substantially boosting the prices of rebar and of other long products in Iran.
The Iranian private sector rolling mills, which hold a considerable share in the national rebar market, usually suffer from the high prices of billet in the global markets, and in recent months the low prices in the local market did not allow them to sell their products (mainly rebar) with the expected margins. The high rebar inventory (of both domestic and imported rebar), along with the fluctuation in local demand, meant that rebar prices were unable to increase in parallel with the global markets. However, the latest rising trend means that local rebar prices in Iran are getting closer and closer to prices in other markets .