After Turkish steel producers restarted their deep sea import scrap purchases two weeks ago following a long absence, Turkish
rebar export volumes increased sharply. However, after the ex-
Turkey rebar deals concluded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week, buyers in the global markets have taken a negative view of Turkish steel mills' efforts to increase their
rebar export quotations, and so Turkish
rebar export sales volumes which were expected to increase have decreased instead.
Some Turkish steelmakers have been unwilling to offer
rebar to the export markets at below $400/mt CFR, while other Turkish steel producers have concluded
rebar export deals at $390/mt FOB, causing confusion in the target markets. On the other hand, foreign buyers, who consider the increases in Turkish
rebar export offers to be unrealistic, still prefer to postpone deals for Turkish
rebar until export quotations become clearer. Meanwhile, Turkish
rebar offers to the export markets have remained unchanged over the past week at $390-425/mt FOB.
During the past week, an ex-
Turkey sale to the UAE for 12,000 mt of
rebar has been concluded at $405/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis. Buyers in the UAE state that their inventories are at low levels and that they are ready to continue their purchases of Turkish
rebar in the coming period. However, following the deal concluded last week in the range of $400-405/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis, Turkish steelmakers are unwilling to conclude
rebar deals to the UAE below $405/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis, while UAE-based buyers, even though they find the increases in Turkish
rebar offers to be unrealistic, still prefer to conclude bookings from
Turkey for limited
rebar tonnages.
In the current week, it has been heard that Turkish
rebar offers to the US have moved in the range of $415-430/mt CFR. US buyers report that their inventories have declined slightly, while they believe Turkish
rebar offers are at reasonable levels after taking into consideration global scrap prices. Under these circumstances, the volume of Turkish
rebar sales to the US is expected to revive slightly in the coming period.