Turkish mills are aiming to conclude rebar sales ahead of the summer season, specifically in southern Europe, while the international construction sector seems to be slowing down due to warm weather conditions and reduced working hours. Currently, Turkish sellers are focused on buyers in the Balkan region in addition to Yemen, despite the escalation of the situation in the Middle East.
In the Turkish domestic rebar market, demand is still negative as most local buyers are in wait-and-see mode due to the unrest in the Middle East and its impact on the Turkish lira-US dollar exchange rate. Although the import scrap price trend is relatively positive, local buyers are not ready to support an upward rebar price trend so far. "Most European buyers are not rushing to restock as the new quota period will begin next week and most orders to Europe have already arrived and are waiting to be processed by customs. I believe international demand may gain momentum by the second half of August," a source told SteelOrbis.
Currently, Turkey’s export rebar offers vary at $530-545/mt FOB for late July-early August shipment, versus $540-550/mt FOB seen last week. According to sources, around 5,000 mt of rebar was sold to Yemen at $545/mt FOB in actual weight for late July shipment. Moreover, another sale of a total of 30,000 mt of rebar is rumored have been done to Albania and Kosovo at around $530/mt FOB last week. As a result, $530/mt FOB seem available for sales of decent tonnages of rebar.
In the Turkish domestic market, the official rebar prices in the Marmara and Izmir regions have fallen by $5/mt on the higher end to $540-560/mt ex-works, including the offers from Icdas A.S. The workable rebar prices in these regions are at $530-555/mt ex-works, also down by $5/mt over the past week. A small-tonnage rebar sale has also been heard in the market at $530-535/mt ex-works in the Izmir region this week. Moreover, an Iskenderun-based mill has offered its rebar prices at around $560/mt ex-works, for an extended delivery period. Although its rebar price has remained stable in the local currency, it fell by $5/mt on US dollar basis due to ongoing currency fluctuations. According to sources, the latest workable rebar price in this region has been set at around $535-540/mt ex-works, also down by $5/mt over the past week.
In the wire rod segment, most Turkish mills have also reduced their export offers by $5/mt to $545-555/mt FOB over the past week, for late July-early August shipment. In addition, the workable Turkish domestic wire rod prices vary at $540-560/mt, versus $550-565/mt ex-works a week ago.