In the past week, spot rebar prices in the Turkish domestic market have increased to TRY 1,165-1,203/mt ($724-747/mt) + VAT ex-warehouse, on actual weight basis, from TRY 1,148-1,161/mt ($713-721/mt) in the previous week, due to the strength of the Turkish lira against the US dollar early last week, as well as due to traders' attempts to increase their rebar inventory levels during the last week of the month of June.
On June 28, as per its new price list Turkish steelmaker Kardemir opened its domestic sales for rebar, decreasing its prices by TRY 55/mt ($34/mt) to TRY 1,174/mt ($729/mt) ex-works, excluding VAT. Kardemir closed its rebar sales on the very same day, after selling approximately 23,500 mt. With domestic rebar supplies remaining on the short side last week, the transaction volume has slowed down somewhat. Towards the end of last week, traders' rebar prices in the Turkish domestic market settled at TRY 1,178-1,203/mt ($732-747/mt) + VAT ex-warehouse, on actual weight basis.
Turkish rolling mills' rebar export offers, which were at $715-725/mt FOB in the previous week, further declined last week by $5-10/mt to $710-715/mt FOB on actual weight basis and for July shipments. While lower prices were also available in the market, buyers expect a further price softening in the coming days.
With the hot weather increasingly felt in the Middle East and North Africa, construction projects in these regions have started to slow down, negatively impacting rebar demand. In the meantime, anticipating demand will decrease further with the approach of Ramadan, buyers in these regions are delaying their rebar purchases for the time being, waiting for lower prices.
$1 = TRY 1.61