In the current week, demand levels for Turkish
rebar exports have varied according to destination. During the past week, Turkish steel producers'
rebar offers to the export markets have softened by $2/mt on the lower end to $428-475/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
Demand for Turkish
rebar in the United Arab Emirates (
UAE) market has improved slightly in the current week, while it is observed that Turkish steel mills have concluded sales to the country. A Turkish steel producer has concluded a deal in the
UAE for 20,000-25,000 mt of
rebar at $435/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis, while it has also concluded a sale to Oman for 5,000-10,000 mt of
rebar at the same price level. Meanwhile, another Turkish steel mill has concluded a transaction in the
UAE for 30,000 mt of
rebar at $438-445/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis. As a result, Turkish steelmakers
rebar offers to the country have settled in the range of $435-445/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis.
UAE-based buyers are expected to continue their purchases of Turkish
rebar in the coming days.
Last week, Egyptian buyers rejected Turkish exporters'
rebar offers as they considered them to be on the high side. In the current week, demand for Turkish
rebar in
Egypt has remained at low levels. Buyers in the country continue to postpone their
rebar purchases as they are maintaining a wait-and-see stance with their
rebar inventories being on the high side. As a result, Turkish
rebar suppliers, whose
rebar offers to
Egypt were at $460/mt FOB last week, are currently waiting to see a clearer price trend in the market.
Turkish
rebar offers to the
US, where domestic
rebar prices are still moving up, have remained stable week on week at $470-475/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis. Despite higher domestic
rebar quotations,
US-based buyers are seeking for more advantageous import
rebar offers ahead of the preliminary determination expected on February 27 in the antidumping case against
rebar imports from
Turkey, Taiwan and Japan, and so they are resisting higher import
rebar offers. Additionally, demand for Turkish
rebar in the
US has declined slightly due to the approaching Christmas holiday. Under these circumstances, Turkish
rebar suppliers have failed to increase their offer prices to the
US in the current week.