Last week, the southern European
merchant bar market maintained its sluggishness as regards producer and end-user activity. In general, new
merchant bar prices in the southern European market are expected to be announced after August - the month when the region is on holiday. Meanwhile, all eyes have been focused on
scrap and
billet prices, which continue their softening trends.
As regards
Turkey, last week saw a continuation of the downtrend in
merchant bar prices both in the domestic and export markets. The main reason behind this decline was the long-standing distress observed in relation to demand.
The most important developments last week were the drops in prices for raw material and
semis. The latest booking for
CIS origin
billet was heard to have been concluded at the level of $1,050-1,100/mt CFR
Turkey.
On the other hand, last week was characterized by fairly large price variations between the different regions in the Turkish domestic market. The main point of interest was that the Karabuk region, which normally gives offers at higher levels than the Iskenderun region, this time give lower offers instead. In the Turkish domestic market, merchant bars were offered in a range of TRY 1,450-1,660/mt ($1,203-1,378/mt) excluding VAT.
As regards exports, prices continued their downtrend. Turkish producers offered angles for export at $1,270-1,300/mt FOB on actual weight basis for August/September shipments. In addition, flat bars were offered at $1,280-1,310/mt FOB, 80-100-120 mm IPE were offered at $1,380-1,400/mt FOB and IPN-UPN were offered at $1,280-1,310/mt FOB and 80-100-120 mm IPE AA were offered at $1,400-1,420/mt FOB - all on actual weight basis and also for August/September shipments.
Looking at the Spanish domestic market, certain problems are still being experienced in demand for merchant bars due to the sluggishness of the domestic
construction sector. Last week, it was heard that the gap between mills' and traders' prices almost reached the level of €100/mt. It was also heard that traders mostly purchased Iranian origin products and offered these at very low levels in the domestic market.