Demand for Turkish rebar softens slightly

The upward movement seen in Turkish rebar export prices started since the beginning of October gave way to sideways movement at the beginning of last week. In the current week, rebar purchases in Turkey's target markets have been sluggish, while Turkish rebar exporters' offers have increased by $5/mt on the upper end to $450-470/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
 
Meanwhile, US-based buyers' inventories are currently at high levels after their purchases of Turkish rebar concluded over previous weeks. Trading activity in the US has slowed down slightly due to the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 24-25), negatively impacting demand for Turkish rebar as US-based buyers have preferred to conclude purchases only in line with their immediate needs this week. Turkish rebar offers to the US are currently in the range of $465-470/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis.
 
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market where Turkish buyers made their first rebar sale last week after an interval of two months, local steel mill Emirates Steel Industries (ESI) has announced its domestic rebar quotations at AED 1,732/mt ($472/mt) ex-works. Although Turkish steel producers have not set a pricing strategy for the UAE yet, it is reported that UAE-based steelmakers' order books are mostly full. Accordingly, demand in the UAE for Turkish rebar may increase in the coming days, according to market sources. Meanwhile, no new rebar offer from Turkey to the UAE has been given this week and the latest Turkish rebar offers to the country heard last week were at $440-445/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis.
  
While Turkish rebar sales to Egypt continued unabated during most of November, buyers started to consider Turkish rebar offers to be on the high side last week after local steel mills reduced their domestic rebar prices. In the current week, the Egyptian rebar market has been sluggish due to the fluctuation of the Egyptian pound-US dollar exchange rate. Meanwhile, buyers are waiting for domestic steel mill EZZ Steel to announce its new rebar prices and are mostly maintaining a wait-and-see stance. As a result, demand for Turkish rebar in Egypt has weakened significantly over the past week with market conditions making it difficult for Turkish exporters to conclude new rebar sales to the country. A small number of deals for low tonnages of Turkish rebar were heard in Egypt this week at $450/mt FOB, on actual weight basis.