Having been on a rising trend in recent weeks under the influence of scrap prices, billet and finished steel product prices in Turkey and the Middle East also continued to climb up in the past week. Due to the continually rising raw material costs, producers in the region have been increasing their finished steel prices, but have been experiencing difficulties sometimes in gaining acceptance for their prices on account of slow end-user demand in the international markets.
Price levels in the Saudi Arabian domestic market also remained unchanged over the past week. However, end-user demand was reported to be slightly weaker due to the hot weather and the approach of the holiday season. Indeed, market players say that there will likely be a fall in rebar demand between mid-July and late September due to the lack of activity triggered by hot weather, the holiday season and Ramadan.
In the UAE, no new rebar price increase was observed in the past week, after the $15-20/mt increase seen in the previous week. Since Turkish producers' rebar offer prices for this country are still on an uptrend, rebar prices in the local UAE market may increase in the coming days. However, just like Saudi Arabia, seasonal factors are expected to show their impact in this country as of early August. If end-user demand in the local UAE market decreases, then finished rebar production investments in the UAE will likely be sufficient to satisfy local demand. It is expected that local producers, traders and importers will attempt to sell off their stocks as they will not want to enter the month of Ramadan with large tonnages in hand.
In the local Turkish rebar market the rising trend in prices also continued over the past week. Although end-user demand in Turkey has been fluctuating at less than desired levels, factories that had been selling material below list prices made money when prices increased; in addition, traders have made money due to the lack of some product specifications from factories in this recent period of price increase.
With consumption levels lower than production levels, the destiny of the Turkish rebar market will become clear in the coming days depending on export deals and the price levels of these deals. Turkish export rebar offers registered an increase over the past week, with prices towards the end of the week up $10/mt compared to the early days of the week.