Domestic rebar prices in Turkey fluctuate in line with lira-dollar exchange rate

As a result of the sharp changes seen in the Turkish lira-US dollar exchange rate, domestic rebar prices in Turkey have fluctuated significantly in the current week. After the Turkish lira declined to a new historical low against the US dollar to TRY 4.97 yesterday, May 23, the Central Bank’s intervention in the evening of the same day caused the Turkish lira to recover some strength, but it has once again depreciated against the dollar today, though not losing as much value as yesterday. Against this backdrop, domestic rebar prices in Turkey have declined by TRY 72/mt + VAT since yesterday, though they have moved up by TRY 76-127/mt + VAT as compared to SteelOrbis’ report published on May 21. On the other hand, SteelOrbis has been informed that some Turkish steel mills have stopped concluding sales on Turkish lira basis and are now making sales on dollar basis due to the volatility of the exchange rate. Market sources state that buyers’ inventories are mostly empty, and so they continue to make purchases in line with their needs. Under the current circumstances, demand in the local Turkish rebar market is not expected to improve in the short term.

As of today, May 21, traders’ rebar offers in the Turkish domestic market are as follows:

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and exclude VAT.

$1 = TRY 4.75