North Africa remains one of the key competitors for Turkish longs producers, especially in sales to the European Union under the new round of quota. In the meantime, mainly Egypt is active to currently sell, while Algeria mainly prefers to concentrate on more profitable sales, especially in the wire rod segment. Export prices from North Africa have overall slid only slightly over the recent weeks, taking into account a very cautious Turkey in terms of discounts and a very gradual weakening of the import scrap.
Egyptian mills have been offering $530-540/mt FOB for rebar for November shipments and $550-555/mt FOB for wire rod for shipments due in the second half of October. The offers have indicated a drop of around $5/mt over almost three weeks, signaling a relatively stabilized market. The suppliers have been mainly selling longs from Egypt to Europe (mainly Romania and Bulgaria) and some MENA countries, particularly to Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, market sources reported.
Following a rather long while of stability, Egypt now might be expected to revise its domestic rebar and wire rod prices, which are now standing at EGP 38,200/mt or around $695/mt ex-works according to the current exchange rate. Despite the offer level being quite high, sources expect the revision due to the recently announced provisional tax for import billet at 16.2 percent, which will diminish the import billet trade flow in Egypt, at least in the mid-term, causing higher production costs for the local re-rollers.
Algerian mills, according to the market information, are not quite active on exports, focusing on the domestic sales, where workable prices are much higher. Both rebar and wire rod are offered by one of key mills at DZD 111,500/mt ex-works including 19 percent of VAT or at around $720/mt ex-works according to $1 = DZD 129.8 exchange rate. The latest indicative offers for rebar and wire rod from Algeria have been reported by the traders at $540-545/mt FOB for November shipments, $5-10/mt down over fortnight.
In the import segment, mainly Israel is active in inquiring long products, reporting rebar offers from China at $570-573/mt CFR, while Russia has been offering rebar at $570-580/mt CFR. Turkish mills are mainly at $580-590/mt CFR, being currently on the high side. In the wire rod segment, China has been standing at $560-570/mt CFR, Russia at $560-570/mt CFR, sources reported.