According to market sources, over the past week
rebar prices in the local
UAE market have remained almost stable at AED 2,000-2,020/mt ($545-550/mt) delivered, while the market has seen decent
rebar demand and not been directly affected by decreasing oil prices. Meanwhile, local steel producer Emirates Steel Industries (ESI) had last week announced unchanged
rebar prices for February
production at AED 1,985/mt ($541/mt) ex-works. Following this announcement, Qatari steel producer Qatar Steel has revised its price downwards for February
production, reducing its prices by QAR 50/mt ($14/mt) to QAR 1,925/mt ($529/mt) ex-works. Qatar Steel's price reduction has caused confusion in the local market since local producer ESI had kept its prices stable this month, and its price adjustment has exerted some pressure on ESI. This situation is expected to prompt ESI to revise its prices for March
production and to make more competitive offers.
Market sources state that the news coming from the Turkish side in the
UAE rebar market has not been positive, in particular as regards prices. Turkish
rebar exporters, who had resisted reducing their offers below $495/mt CFR last week, have since decreased their offers to $490/mt CFR first and then further to $485/mt CFR - all offers are on theoretical weight basis.
UAE-based market players state that some purchases for a total 25,000 mt of
rebar have been concluded at this level. Considering the softening of import scrap prices in the Turkish market,
rebar importers in the
UAE report that Turkish producers are very eager to accept orders and so it is only a matter of time before ex-
Turkey rebar offers decrease to $480/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis.
Meanwhile, Chinese offers to the
UAE for chrome-added
rebar have softened by $5/mt week on week to the range of $440-445/mt CFR on actual weight basis. However, there is scarcely any demand for these offers and no deals have been concluded at these levels.
$1 = AED 3.67
$1 = QAR 3.64