The Turkish wire rod market has in general been characterized by silence this week. Under the influence of difficulties in finished steel sales activity and of Ramadan, most wire rod market insiders are waiting for the post-Ramadan period in order to buy material. On the other hand, wire rod buyers who are willing to make purchases can choose from some quite competitive prices in the local market. No significant problem has been observed on the supply side this week. It is expected that the technical problem which recently occurred in the southern region in Turkey will be resolved completely by the end of this week and that wire rod qualities other than low carbon will again be produced in this region. Additionally, it is expected in Turkey's southern region that the Middle East markets will gain momentum after the end-of-Ramadan festivities.
The international wire rod markets are being affected significantly by China's resurrection in the iron and steel markets in general. As a result, Turkish exports are starting to face some difficulties. Market players in the Far East are now being more cautious as regards Turkish origin export offers since traders' boron-added wire rod offers from China to the export markets have declined to $530/mt FOB, while some traders who have high stock levels may offer at slightly lower prices. For this reason, it is said that Turkish wire rod producers are currently very careful in responding to price inquiries from the Far East.
Ex-Central Africa price inquiries for wire rods to Turkey are still heard. However, it is known that this region, where levels of urbanization and infrastructure are weak, makes wire rod purchases just once or twice in a year, and so it is thought that the current demand from the region will not last long.
In the current period when there is sluggishness in Turkey's local market and in its exports to the Middle East market due to Ramadan, Turkish wire rod producers are filling the gap by focusing on the European markets, which have returned from holidays with a price uptrend, in place of the US and Middle East markets (on which they had focused their attention in August).
In the Italian market, the increased prices on the scrap side have been showing their impact on wire rods. It is heard that there have been some drawing quality wire rod sales in the local Italian market at price levels of €380-390/mt delivered to customer. Since the stock levels of some end-users in this country are low in this period, Turkish producers are following this market with great attention. In particular, the Turkish mills hold the advantage with the trend observed this week in the exchange rate between the euro and US dollar. In Greece, also, the situation is the same, in terms of low stock levels of end-users and the advantage of Turkish mills due to the exchange rate.
The influence of the price uptrend in European wire rods is also being felt in ex-CIS wire rod offers for export. It is heard that some ex-CIS offers to southern Asia for drawing quality material have increased to $510/mt FOB. However, buyers are not warm towards these offers for the time being.