Having started to rise last week and maintaining their uptrend into the current week thanks to the deals to North
Africa and strong
scrap price levels,
rebar prices in the local Turkish market have this week gone up by approximately TRY 50/mt. As of today, Friday, January 9, the
rebar price level in the local Turkish market is at TRY 900/mt ex-works including VAT ($489/mt excluding VAT). End-user demand in the local market is still sluggish due to the cold weather conditions and the global economic uncertainty.
Turkish export
rebar offers have increased this week. Prices were at $470-490/mt FOB
Turkey towards the end of last week, while they have this week been at $520/mt FOB
Turkey. Additionally, it is heard that there have been some deals at the price level of $505/mt FOB. If the
scrap prices continue to rise, it is expected that the Turkish producers'
rebar offer prices will increase in both local and export markets. While the gradual increase in the Turkish
rebar prices is helping to restore confidence levels in the market, it is observed that the local traders in
Turkey are increasing the amounts of their purchases.
Rebar prices in the
Middle East have been stable this week in countries such as
Syria ($540/mt), Saudi Arabia ($500-568/mt),
Yemen ($490-530/mt) and the
UAE ($500-520/mt). Also, the export offers of the Turkish producers have almost reached the same price levels seen in those countries' local markets. This may cause prices in these countries to enter an uptrend for the first time in several weeks.
With most of
Europe now having returned from holiday,
Russia's decision to cut natural gas supplies has come as a shock to the Europeans, and
Bulgaria,
Austria and
Ukraine have started to search for alternative energy sources. However, these countries are not expected to to able to solve their energy difficulties within a short time; in this context, it is now a hot topic of discussion among market players how far the cost of
rebar production will rise in the countries in question. While all
Europe will have returned from the holidays as of Monday, January 12, given the changing market conditions, it is expected that market players in the region will monitor the market direction for a while before deciding to act.