Last week, the UAE import market remained stagnant as buyers were waiting for mills to announce new rebar prices in the UAE domestic market. Accordingly, the number of price inquiries in the UAE has been limited in the last two weeks. The unease in the market caused by rumors that the government would cancel the five percent import duty exemption of cutters and benders for rebar has been the main reason for the limited volume of price inquiries from buyers. With these rumors now having lost validity, buyers have started to take an active role in the import market and as a result the number of price inquiries has increased in the UAE domestic market.
Meanwhile, rebar export offers from Turkey to the UAE are currently standing at $665-670/mt CFR Dubai on theoretical weight basis and for end of June shipments. While some deals have been heard at the price level of $665/mt CFR, traders in the UAE want offers to come down to the level of $660/mt CFR. Rebar transactions from Turkey to the UAE had been concluded at $670/mt CFR last month and local mills in the UAE have not changed their offers as compared to the previous month. In this context, UAE buyers are aware of the low activity levels facing Turkish mills in their domestic market and so they are trying to get better offers than last month's levels from Turkish mills and to conclude rebar deals at $660-665/mt CFR, thereby turning the slack activity in the Turkish rebar market to their advantage.