The Turkish domestic wire rod market has made a quiet start after the Ramadan holiday, in contrast to expectations. It is thought that it will take some time for local wire rod buyers to resume normal levels of business. This week, the bargaining power of real buyers in the Turkish domestic wire rod market is still maintained, while local prices are following a sideways trend.
On the other hand, concerns surrounding the international financial markets are causing international wire rod buyers to delay their bookings for a while.
Yesterday, on September 7, Germany's constitutional court ruled that the rescue operations in the euro area did not violate the budgetary powers of the German government. Following this ruling, backing Germany's ability to come to the rescue of troubled European partners, a slight recovery is seen likely in the euro zone.
On the other hand, in southern Europe, strikes and economic problems in Italy are exerting pressure on Italian wire rod buyers in their decisions regarding new bookings. In this week's Italian domestic market, mesh quality wire rod offers are standing at €530-535/mt ($747-754/mt) for deliveries to customer, while local wire rod demand in the country is quiet due to abovementioned factors. In the meantime, according to Turkey's wire rod export data for August, Italy had actively imported wire rod from Turkey in the pre-holiday period.
In Greece, mesh quality wire rod export offers stand at €525-530/mt ($740-747/mt) FOB for late September and October shipments, while in the Bulgarian domestic market stockists' mesh quality wire rod prices have increased slightly to BGN 1,060-1,065/mt ($758-762/mt) CPT on actual weight basis, exclusive of 20 percent VAT. Demand is expected to further strengthen in Bulgaria in the coming days.
In August this year, Turkey's wire rod exports to African markets maintained their strength, while Brazil is still an important export market for Turkish mills.
Country | Volume (mt) | Change (%) | |
July 2010 | July 2011 | ||
12,200 | 16,021 | 31.32 | |
Kenya | 0 | 11,945 | 100.00 |
Israel | 7,200 | 7,695 | 6.88 |
Ivory Coast | 0 | 7,170 | 100.00 |
5,200 | 5,727 | 10.12 | |
Spain | 0 | 5,000 | 100.00 |
Lebanon | 0 | 4,500 | 100.00 |
Ghana | 0 | 4,016 | 100.00 |
Tunisia | 4 | 3,100 | 88,446.13 |
Total | 67,041 | 91,978 | 37.20 |
Source: Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters' Association (IMMIB)
Looking at Turkey's final product (wire, nail, etc) exports, according to figures provided by the Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters' Association (IMMIB), in August this year Turkey's total steel wire exports amounted to 11,988 mt. In the given month, Iraq was Turkey's top steel wire export market with 1,651 mt, followed by Romania with 1,060 mt and the UAE with 862 mt.
In the meantime, also in August, Georgia, the Netherlands and Iraq were Turkey top three steel nail export markets. In the eighth month of this year, in Turkey's steel bolt and nut (7318) exports, Germany, France and Brazil ranked as the top three export markets. As for Turkey's steel rope exports, Germany, Slovenia and Belgium ranked high, while Germany and Poland were notable steel chain export markets for Turkey.
To sum up the situation in the international wire rod market, wire rod demand in Turkey and the Middle East has not revived yet in contrast to expectations, and the European markets have also remained quiet following the summer holiday.