Ex-Turkey official merchant bar prices trend up

Over the past week, a few Turkish merchant bar re-rollers have increased their offers amid the ongoing currency fluctuations and costlier import scrap prices. Currently, official ex-Turkey equal angle offers are mainly standing at $630-640/mt FOB, rising by $10/mt on the lower end, slightly higher levels are also available depending on the region and quantity, for September-early October shipment.  

The SteelOrbis Turkish billet daily import reference price stands at $470-480/mt CFR, versus $460-475/mt CFR over the same period. Middle Eastern buyers are still postponing their purchases due to the adverse hot weather conditions. In addition, the workable merchant bar export price for very small tonnage, truck basis, orders to Balkan region is at around $610-615/mt ex-works, SteelOrbis has heard.

"If the positive trend in the import scrap segment continues and the expectation of a rise in local energy tariffs from September 1 rationalize; higher merchant bar export offers will be on the table in September," one source said.

Turkish merchant bar export prices are currently at the following levels:

All prices are on FOB basis for September-early October shipments.