Silence has predominated in this week's Turkish wire rod market. The softenings seen in price levels have caused difficulties in terms of the cost calculations of end-users in the local market. Some end-users in the Turkish market, who have been having problems in following all the various wire rod prices of the mills have continued to maintain a wait-and-see stance. Facing difficulties in filling their order books against the background of the global wire rod demand contraction, the Turkish mills have continued to seek new export markets. As a result, this week it is observed that the Turkish mills have been giving quite competitive offers both in the local and export markets.
This week in the Dubai market - an important market in the Middle East for Turkish market players - local prices are observed to have softened under the influence of the decreases seen in export offers given from Turkey to this market. In the Dubai domestic market, mesh quality wire rod offers are heard at levels of $440-450/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. Meanwhile, it is mentioned in this market that Turkish mills have offered mesh quality wire rod to Dubai at levels of $430-440/mt CFR Dubai for July shipment. End-users in Dubai who are undecided as to whether a softening will be seen in price levels have approached these offers with caution. While demand is trending neutral in general, it needs to be emphasized that end-users' stock levels in Dubai are currently low.
As we look at the southern European market, it is seen that in Italy mesh quality wire rod prices have this week maintained their levels of €340-350/mt delivered to customer, excluding VAT, i.e., the same levels as last week. This week relative inactivity has been weighing on the demand side. It is heard that ex-Turkey mesh quality wire rod offers to Italy are at the levels of $440-450/mt (€320-330/mt) C&F Italy for June shipment; however, considering the lead times, Italian end-users have not leant towards these offers, even though they are very close to the domestic price levels.
As for northern Europe, in the Polish domestic market drawing quality wire rod prices are at levels of €330-340/mt ex-works, excluding VAT, while S235JR grade wire rod prices are at €320-330/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. As compared to the northern European market as a whole, a more positive atmosphere is currently observed in Poland.
Taking a close look at the current situation in the international wire rod markets, it is seen that the Turkish mills have been taking a great interest in developments in the Far Eastern markets, as well as having an effective role in their own neighboring countries and in the Middle East. The CIS mills have been focusing a lot of attention on the southern Asian (Pakistan and India) wire rod markets in particular; however, it should be considered that the Turkish mills will not skip this region when seeking alternative export markets.
On the other hand, it seems that it will take some time before Chinese market players, who were giving quite competitive offers for boron-added wire rod in the international markets last year, will again exert an influence in the Turkish and Middle Eastern markets. The main reasons for this are the strong local demand in China and the high levels of Chinese export offers compared to the prices seen in the international markets.