In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Emirates Steel Arkan (ESA), the largest local steel producer and market leader, has announced its domestic wire rod prices for February production. Despite ongoing strong demand and rising raw material prices, ESA has opted to maintain wire rod pricing at the same levels as in the previous month.
Nevertheless, according to certain market players, the reason for the unchanged wire rod price level is believed to be the competitiveness of certain distributors who have been focused on generating more sales through aggressive domestic market offers, although this claim has not been confirmed at the time of publishing.
As a result, ESA's current offers for wire rod for February production have remained stable month on month at $650/mt ex-works (AED 2,387/mt). Meanwhile, other local producers are anticipated to follow a similar trend in the coming days.
In the export market, ESA has made the decision to hold back from offering for the time being due to stronger demand on the local market, but mostly due to the decline in demand in Saudi Arabia.