Last week saw the European merchant bar markets maintained their quietness. In the upcoming days fluctuations are likely to be seen in price levels in the European merchant bar market, where the end-user demand has been at low levels.
Prices did not show much change in the local Turkish merchant bar market last week and hovered in the range of TRY 830-860/mt. Meanwhile, the most important development on the Turkish merchant bar producers' side was the softening observed in the import and domestic billet prices. End-users have been expecting finished steel prices to decrease, following the fall of domestic billet prices from $470/mt to $400/mt, as well as the decline of CIS origin billet prices from $400/mt FOB to $370/mt FOB in Turkey.
On the export side, the markets seem to be in a better situation. Even if tonnages have not been so large, sales have continued to be concluded to Africa, with price levels at $530-550 FOB. However, buyers who have been observing the decrease in billet prices have been applying pressure on Turkish merchant bar producers to lower their prices.
Looking at the southern European markets, rumors have been circulating in particular in the Spanish market that local mills will continue to lower their prices. Merchant bar producers, who have focused their attention on exports due to low demand in the Spanish domestic market, have continued to give export offers to Africa and Portugal. Also, Spanish merchant bar mills have been following a customer-based pricing policy when determining domestic prices. In Italy as well as Spain, prices have fallen approx. €30/mt ($38/mt) due to weak demand.
Prices have shown hardly any change in Romania and Bulgaria. In these regions, the exchange rate has started to exert a stronger influence on price levels than the producers. In the current context, it is possible to observe slight fluctuations in prices.
The uncertainty seen in recent weeks against the background of price fluctuations is likely to continue during the coming days.